


Close to the Wind

by theobjectlesson



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Big Bang Challenge, Drama, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Riptide, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 14:05:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 55,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theobjectlesson/pseuds/theobjectlesson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After defeating Gaea, Nico di Angelo fell off the face of the earth, and Percy Jackson just… fell. Disappearing from the world of gods and monsters, seven years finds Percy with his back to his old life, shrouded in the rapidly fading Mist of a tiny town on the edge of nowhere. Seven years finds Percy thinking it might really be over, all just a bad dream about someone else’s ruined life.</p><p>But when Nico bursts onto the scene, it’s to convince Percy to come back and be the leader he once was, to protect those that have all but given up on him from the very fear that drove him away. Percy has changed, and Nico needs to find the hero inside the man the war spit out. The world could really use that hero – the Son of Poseidon whose job is never over. Percy could really use the one person who never gave up on him, to help him pick the right side of the newest fight.</p><p>If only Nico could decide which side is right. He’s going to need some help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the Percy Jackson Big Bang 2014! 
> 
> First, some acknowledgments: to Lilly, Riptide Big Bang admin extraordinaire, and all the admins, for the endless patience and flexibility when dealing with unreliable writers like myself, to Morgan and Anya (attolix.tumblr.com) for their help in the editing process, and most of all, Elle (ohmypercico.tumblr.com), not only for her AMAZING art contributions, but also for her unending support of this story, through my freak-outs and missed deadlines. Whether it came in the form of talking me off the ledge or sending me pictures of her puppies, this story never would've gotten finished (such as it is) without her. Elle, you fulfilled a life-long dream of mine when you signed up to do art for this fic. You're the best.
> 
> Second, this story is in no way what I envisioned it would be when I started, and I think I'm okay with that. Writing it put me so far out of my depth, and has only exponentially increased the respect I already had for everyone who can create long fiction in any form, fan or otherwise. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do what you do, and I'm in such awe of you all. This story kicked my ass, but it completely changed my perspective on writing and commitments, so regardless of whether it's any good or not, I gained something here. Thanks, Big Bang.
> 
> Now, I think that's quite enough of that. Hope you enjoy it.

_Lethe_

  1.      The river around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.
  2.      A river in Alaska that runs through the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.



 

 

It’s that the river is black.

A century of water cutting a canyon through the strata churns up the ash to make a river so dark and opaque that in the low light of the Alaska midnight, it might as well be made of ink. Long ago, the valley was filled with steaming cracks in the earth’s crust, but the cooling effect of time leaves the once sulfurous air clean and transparent. 

Still, as Nico crouches down next to the riverbed, he wasn’t expecting the river to be black. 

His sneakers sink into the soft silt of the banks. The remains of whatever filled this valley before the volcano erupted are caked onto his shoes, smeared on the hems of his jeans. Absentmindedly, he runs his fingers through the soft ground, feeling and smelling the dust of a long gone fire. The ash puffs into the air whenever it is touched, and a corner of his mind acknowledges that he’s covered in the stuff now. He elects not to care.

In a few minutes, it won’t matter anyway.

He’s been to the other end of this river, at the mouth of its cave in the Underworld. There, the ground is solid black stone, and the river is barely noticeable, just a slight bit of shine in an otherwise matte landscape. It flows off to the side, out of the way, and something about the way the water murmured, always just out of earshot, made Nico forget it was there every time he took his eyes off it. He keeps it in careful view now. Tripping and falling in would probably still have the desired effect, but he’d prefer not to take a swim when just a sip will do.

No sense in getting wet.

This doesn’t stop him from dipping his fingers in and letting the ash run off his hand and downstream to the far-off ocean where its powers are diluted. Looking at his hands through the water messes with his mind, like the fingers won’t focus and the eyestrain drives a powerful urge to look away. Nico resists though. He feels amazingly little doubt about this choice, but he also doesn’t see the point in rushing. There is no hurry.

Maybe he just wants to be caught.

It’s unsettling, how clear the air is here. If he’d thought twice, Nico would have realized that the passing of a century would wear down most if not all of the fumaroles in the valley, and that, if poison steam still had been rushing into the air, it would’ve made it very hard to breathe at all, much less sit on the banks for so long.  Somehow he’d still been imagining the cover of thick white smoke to obscure him from view. Now, sitting just at the water’s edge with complete visibility for miles around, he feels a little exposed. The barren landscape is completely quiet, still, and dead for miles around, but the soft ground obscures footsteps and Nico can’t help but think someone could pop up behind him at any moment and pull him back. 

Or push him in.

The serenity of the complete stillness is to his advantage though, and so Nico takes a moment to think. He’s done this already. Normally one for rash actions, this time he’s thought it out. There is absolutely no reason for him to stay. The war is over, he played his roll and came out the hero in the background that everyone knows and no one acknowledges. A third of the camp is dead, and he’s done his part in shepherding the souls to the afterlife, even bargaining on their behalves. Lighting the shrouds over their friends and watching the sparks disappear into the night sky over New York was his last obligation. Nothing is left to hold Nico di Angelo to the world anymore.

If he’s honest, there hasn’t been for a while. Not since Bianca. Hazel was a surprising reprieve… Nico feels a pang of guilt, but she’ll be fine, she has Frank to protect her now. There is no one to really miss him, and no point in waiting until Elysium to try and start over, as if his father would let him in the first place. Not when he can begin again right now. All the strings holding him have snapped, and with such an obvious path to a new life, there is really no other choice.

Well, except Percy. Percy, who can’t look Nico, or anyone, in the eyes anymore. Percy, who sacrificed and lost so much that he’s been chewed up and spit out as someone else entirely. Percy, who as Nico kissed him, just once, just before he left forever, didn’t even move, to reciprocate or to pull away, but sat there, like living stone in Cabin #3 as Annabeth held her face in her hands and cried.

Percy…

Nico’s hands are cupping the black water and lifting it as the last of his name fades away. The last string is loose, untied and fluttering without direction or purpose. It is time to disappear.

“N-Nico!” 

Nico smells the change in the air a second too late as a rough voice shouts from behind. He turns without thinking to see Percy climb through a shadow behind a fallen tree, one arm reaching out and the other wrapped around Hazel’s waist to keep her from falling.

Percy looks frantically around, and falters when he sees Nico crouched next to the bank. Hazel slides from his grasp, knees sinking half a foot into the ash. Percy hesitates, but Hazel waves him off, heaving, and Nico hears her voice, weak and trembling,

“No, you have to go. Stop him.”

A corner of his brain remembers that Hazel can’t shadow-travel more than few miles without great exertion, let alone across the entire country into the land beyond the gods with someone else in tow. Her normally chocolate skin looks milky and damp. He fights the impulse to go to her, though, because Percy is advancing on him and it’s now or never.

Nico di Angelo’s time is up.

It’s impossible to look at the water spilling over his hands, his vision blurring in and out and never quite in focus. The closer it gets to his mouth, the harder it is to remember what is going on around him. Still, he cannot seem to ignore the way Percy advances on him, the way the ash puffs out from under each step of his sneakers, the way he shuffles through the earth, like moving through wet concrete, or the way it sounds like he’s shouting through mud.

“Nico! Nico, please. Please stop.”

He’s so close now, and if Nico could just remember why he was kneeling in grey sand at the edge of a silent river, he could get himself to drink. Just a sip. One swallow. He opens his mouth, smells the carbon in the water about to touch his lips.

Before he can drink, it is gone.

Nico’s mind clears and his eyes snap to Percy’s. Percy stands a few yards away, arm outstretched, and the water that had just been cupped in Nico’s palms floats just beyond his fingers like a smoky, rippling orb. Percy’s face is completely devoid of expression, but his eyes are red.

“Percy. What are you doing here?”

“Hazel found me. I couldn’t let you do it.” 

Behind him, Hazel lies nearly motionless on the ground, and Nico’s heart seizes when he realizes she is probably unconscious. Still, his body is frozen in place.

“I didn’t know you were leaving your cabin these days.”

“Neither did I.”

There is a long silence where nothing can be heard except the complete absence of noise in the valley. When Percy finally speaks, his voice breaks. 

"Nico. Please.”

Percy is actually crying, Nico realizes. This cracks Nico’s heart in two, but the desire to drink is even stronger, because it is one thing for him to lose everything, but another thing entirely to see the one person he cares about more than life itself suffer the same fate.

“Why?”

“How can you? How can you just walk out like this? We need you.”

“No one needs me.”

Percy shakes his head frantically. 

“That isn’t true. What about Hazel? W-what about…”

“Who, Percy. What about who?”

Percy doesn’t respond. Nico feels his throat constrict.

“I can’t stay. I can’t see you like this, be a part of this life where you are so... and you don’t even feel the same-“

“Nico, I can’t!” Percy yells, anguished, “I can’t feel what I want to feel! For Annabeth, for you, for anyone anymore. My heart… my heart is off.” 

His voice falls, the emotion drops, and Nico feels the void in his chest widen, feels the sun go out. His face must show everything, because Percy pleads with him.

“Please, Nico. I can’t. I can’t watch you do this.”

Nico looks at his hands, bone dry, to Percy, standing in the graves of a thousand fires, and whispers, “And I can’t watch you die.”

Percy starts to argue, but stops. Because Nico is right, Percy Jackson is fading away, being replaced by someone new, someone broken. It was one thing to live in a world where Percy was happy and in love with someone else, but this person in front of him now, this is a shell. Nico looks into his eyes, colored grey by the unsaturated landscape, and the person he sees looking back, there is something familiar about him that makes Nico want to scream.

It’s like looking at himself in the mirror.

Very slowly, like the effort is hurting him, Percy lowers his arm. The water outside his palm glides forward towards Nico, and Nico watches as the ash falls out into the air and the water becomes clear and clean once more. The crystal orb is being placed gently into his open palms now, and it feels cool in his cupped hands. Percy lets go, and the water relaxes into Nico’s fingers. Nico stares at it for a long moment before looking back up to see all the light dim out of his friend’s eyes.

“A-Alright,” he speaks, using the once outstretched arm to wipe some of the tears off his face, leaving long streaks of black soot in their place, “Okay. I’m sorry. For e-everything. I’m sorry.”

Nico can’t look at Percy anymore than he can look at the water as he raises it to his lips. His eyes fall somewhere in the middle distance, where everything is grey. His cupped hands are so close to his face that he can smell the water – much cleaner now that Percy shook all the ash out of it. It’s close enough to make his lips tremble.

Then the ground shakes so hard it knocks Nico off his feet. He stares at the sky, disoriented, and the earsplitting crack of stone fills the air. A great black plume explodes on the bank, like a volcano erupting only smoke.

“Oh, I don’t think so.”

The voice booms in the empty space, making ripples on the water, agitating the ashes. Nico clambers to his feet awkwardly. He’s heard this voice before.

The figure that emerges from the smoke is twenty feet tall and obscured by a vaporous black cloak rippling in the sudden wind. Blistering air burns against Nico’s face as he struggles to stare at the looming shape. Percy is on his knees, eyes painfully wide even as the ash blows over them. Nico stares into the wall of darkness, and sees a thousand thousand faces swirling in the smoke, screaming at him.

The ground shakes more violently, and the rock beneath his sneakers starts to crumble. The world is wrenched apart under his feet, and suddenly Nico is at the edge of a precipice, a giant fissure that takes rocks and ash and some of the river water down with it into the empty blackness. His toes are over the edge, and the earth feels like sand beneath his heels.

“N-Nico-“ Percy shouts, but Nico can barely hear him over the noise of rocks sliding together, a horrible screech of stone on stone.

“Too late, Jackson. You had your chance. He’s coming with me,” the voice thunders. Nico tries to reclaim his balance as he looks at Percy, the realization of who’s talking washing over them at the same time.

The earth gives one more violent shake, and Nico feels the bit of ledge fall from under his feet. He twists violently, suddenly in midair, and as he falls backwards into the nothing, all he can see is Percy’s face, mouth wide open in a scream Nico can’t hear, horrified green eyes vanishing as suddenly as the sky when Nico’s world is painted black.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for this chapter: http://grell-e.deviantart.com/art/PJO-Riptide-2-477005575

_Seven years later…_

 

As soon as the dock appears through the thick fog, it’s a mad rush to see who can get through their work faster and be the first ashore. The port fender grazes the rubbing siding and immediately 5 pairs of boots (about 3 more than are strictly necessary) jump over the gunwale and there’s a disorganized scuffle to get the bow and stern lines cleated off so the captain can kill the engine.

“Ey! Cool yer jets! Everyone’s goin’ home, no need ter rush.”

Only fear of the captain get these guys to contain themselves, and Percy just chuckles to himself and waits.

He’s always the last man off the boat. His fellow crewmembers can’t wait to get back on land and go home (or out and spend all their earnings in one night), but he doesn’t feel the same pull. He always takes the most arduous jobs, the ones that take the longest, so that everyone else can go home and see their families, and he can spend just a little longer on the boat. 

Today, that means rinsing all the salt from two weeks at sea off every bit of steel, nylon, and wood on deck. The winch is occupying his particular attention when a firm clap on his shoulder makes him jump. The captain laughs and pushes his hat back on his head.

“Last man standin’ again, eh, Jackson?” 

Percy chuckles, moving from the winch to the brass of the controls. 

“Guess I’m just slow, sir.”

“Maybe so, but you pulled in yer weight and then some this trip. Can’t ask ye fer more than that.”

“Thank you sir.”

Percy watches as the middle-aged man, grizzled by a lifetime at sea, steps over the side and onto the dark, drenched wood of the dock.

“Aye, well, enjoy yer vacation. Be back here in four days. Don’ be late.” 

Percy smiles, cleaning the last of the brass fixtures.

“You neither, sir.”

He gets a hoarse guffaw in reply, and then it’s just him, the boat, and the mist of dusk on the Portland waterfront.

As soon as the captain’s back disappears into the evening fog, Percy drops the hose and sits at the controls to survey the deck. The water floods around his boots, surrounding him but never quite touching, as it spreads over every inch of the vessel. Percy watches the rippling sleeve for a moment before flicking his wrist and sending it all down the scuppers, leaving everything bone dry and immaculate.

Okay, so maybe Percy is a little eager to be home this time. Two weeks is a long time to be away from his place, and he misses it. He shuts off the hose and coils it neatly on the dock. He removes his foul weather gear and hangs it in the crew locker, grabbing his sea bag and hefting it over his shoulder. Making sure his pay is secure in his pocket, Percy locks up below deck and finally steps over the gunwale himself, careful not to slip on the rain-soaked planks of the dock. It had been raining when they delivered the week’s catch, but  stopped just in time for Percy to still need to do a freshwater rinse of the deck once they made berth. 

The fog is cold on his face as he walks down the dock, and for a moment he wishes he’d kept his rain gear on over his wool sweater and jeans. Then he makes it ten slips down and sees his home, and figures he can’t complain. His 38-foot cutter is right where she belongs, rocking gently in her berth. Percy drops his duffle on the deck and looks at her, his home that also serves as his job and family.

He’s so wrapped up in his beautiful boat that he almost doesn’t see the person standing at the far end of the dock until the figure turns towards him and the movement catches his eye.

Percy’s heart jumps, spooked, because there isn’t usually anyone around at this time of evening. The dock is mainly old fishing boats and people who don’t get out on the water enough to care that their boats are being moored in a less than scenic marina, and the very tall, thin figure at the far end of dock, barely noticeable through the mist, is unexpected and out of place. It’s a man, Percy realizes, dressed in all black with a long coat that’s catching in the light wind. Percy realizes the man is standing right at the edge, and one step backward would send him right into the harbor.

Percy swallows his nervousness and waves, but the guy doesn’t wave back. Percy can almost make out the outline of a face and he doesn’t look angry either. Percy can’t recall ever seeing him around, having become very familiar with the small number of boat owners in this marina. Percy is about to call out when the guy turns away again, staring at the water. Something about him is distinctly unsettling, so Percy heads for the welcome territory of his boat, and the second his foot hits the deck it’s like the man was never there. 

He grabs his bags and unlocks the old wooden doors to the cabin. The steps down are barely more than a ladder, narrow and steep, and Percy has to duck to avoid hitting his head on the hatch overhead. It’s cold below deck, and Percy is glad for his sweater as he fumbles around in the dark to get the electricity in gear. The generator is old and finicky, but after some dial twirling and a few kicks to the side, it roars to life, and Percy hits the lights. The tiny cabin contains a couch with a small table, a forward bunk, and a kitchen with a stove, sink, and fridge all barely larger than dollhouse furniture, and Percy loves it.

The only thing that can shake the calm of being home, after he’s shucked off his work clothes and collapsed, exhausted, into his bed to let the ocean lull him to sleep, is realizing that the only way out of this marina is to walk by his boat, and there were never any footsteps.

 

* * *

  

It’s a good thing she’s so pretty, because there’s no way Percy would be throwing his swim trunks on at 8am to jump into cold Maine water for her otherwise.

It could be worse, he supposes. It’s August, so the ocean is as warm as it’s ever going to be (at just above completely frigid). It’s a sunny day, even this early, and by the time he’s done working the morning mist will probably have burned off. Not to mention, it’s a little easier for Percy Jackson to work on his boat than most. The swim trunks are really just in case someone walks by while he’s swimming around the hull. Jumping into the harbor fully clothed could seem a bit out of the ordinary. 

On the other hand, he tends to forget to come up for “air”, so it probably doesn’t make much difference.

Being able to clean the bottom of his boat without taking her out of the water is pretty sweet, and it saves Percy the trouble of using any of the nasty antifouling agents that muck up the ocean. The algae he can just scrape off, and there usually isn’t much. Barnacles are worse, because he can hear them talking to each other. They don’t say much, mostly squeaky chattering about food, having their heads glued down, and something about the biggest reproductive organ to body size ratio of any animal… Percy tries to ignore it as he scrapes them off with a scalpel. Then, he buffs and waxes above the water line, keeping the deep blue paint sparkling and looking new, even if it isn’t. It takes hours, but it’s worth it it if it means he can be done by noon and spend the rest of the day sailing.

There’s a good wind today, and even though he doesn’t have to, Percy relies on sail power to head across the bay. The weather cooperates and it’s clear skies and sparkling blue water, dotted with white rock islands capped with deep green conifers. He heads north around Long Island, and the smattering of small houses along the coast somehow brings his mind to another island that shares the same name and absolutely nothing else, where he hasn’t been in a long, long time.

It’s easier to head offshore than to think about it, so he tacks out through Luckse Sound and south down the broad mouth of Casco Bay. There aren’t a lot of other boats out this far, which suits Percy just fine. Two days ashore and his mind is already spinning, and somehow being so far away from land helps his brain empty of everything except the angle of the wind and the pitch and yaw of the boat through the waves. When Ram Island Lighthouse appears on the horizon he brings the bow in, giving her just a little push towards land because it’s getting late and the elderly couple who own the boat in the slip next to his fuss at him when he stays out past dark.

The sun is nearly set by the time he’s tying off, and Percy feels his stomach growl. He’s used to eating more when he’s at sea, and during his time off he tends to forget how many calories he needs. He’s happily thinking about the steaks he has in the fridge as he lowers the sails when a glint catches his eye from the shoreline. He turns instinctively, eyes following the row of defunct buildings on the marina access road until he finds the source. 

Percy doesn’t know where the glint could’ve come from, because the man is still wearing all black and there’s certainly nothing shiny about him. In fact, he’s essentially an absence of light; a void breaking up the warm pink and orange of the sunset on the Portland waterfront. He looks horribly out of place, from his clothes, to the way he is standing, like a large black bird of prey perched on a ledge, scouting a meal. Percy knows he’s never seen him around the city, and yet, there is something so strikingly, achingly familiar about the way he stands, the way the light bends around him, and the eyes that have just found his line of sight. 

He’s well out of earshot, but Percy shouts before the absence of logic catches up with him.

“Hey! Hey, wait!”

The guy clearly hears him though, because he immediately turns and walks quickly in the opposite direction. Before Percy knows what he’s doing, he finds himself dropping the rigging he’s holding and sprinting down the dock towards the gangway. 

“Wait! Stop!” 

The guy doesn’t stop, disappearing into the shadow between two dilapidated brick buildings. Percy’s feet pound the metal gangway as he tries to catch up. He doesn’t know why he’s running, doesn’t know why he suddenly needs to catch this man before he disappears…

 _Again_.

But when his feet hit the dirt of the parking lot, his legs seem to sink into concrete. He freezes, because he just hit a wall he didn’t know was there. It feels like the temperature has dropped twenty degrees over the border between the harbor and the land. The atmosphere is thick, and Percy’s chest is heaving, his lungs desperately pulling on the cold air that suddenly doesn’t have enough oxygen. His vision spirals and narrows to a pinhole. Just like that, the chase dies. The man is gone, and Percy suddenly feels nauseous with exhaustion. He staggers back towards the sea and the second his feet are over the water the feeling disappears. His heart is still racing though, and he retreats, shaken, back to his boat and collapses onto the nearest bench seat.

The sun is set, the last fingers of orange light receding towards the skyline of the city. Percy stares at the hills until dusk takes over and the sky is blue and cold. He barely thinks, but it isn’t the same blissful void he felt offshore just hours before. The thoughts race through his brain so quickly that he can’t focus on any one thing, and nothing comes together but a headache and a lot of confusion. The night air feels humid after the cold front he felt before, though as he descends into the cabin it seems like he may have imagined the whole thing.

The ache behind his eyes and his mind racing keep Percy from falling asleep like he desperately wants to. The waves lapping against the hull are soothing, but every creak of the dock sections rubbing together, every car that rumbles by in the distance, jars him back to consciousness. He still feels short of breath and light-headed, and it dawns on him that this feeling is just as familiar as the man he just tried to chase down for no reason. He just hasn’t felt it in a long, long time.

 _Not again._  

Just when his brain is lurching into full-on panic, the wind shifts a little. A light gust comes off the land, washing away the smell of the sea. Percy sits up suddenly. The new air running through the cabin brings a new smell, but it isn’t a smell… it’s a stench. A pungent, retch-inducing stink, and though it’s been ages, though he’s been successfully hiding for so long, there is no mistaking it. Monsters.

Percy’s hand is in his pocket and out again without him even thinking to get his pen. He doesn’t carry it consciously anymore, but it’s hardwired to him so it isn’t like he can just leave it behind either. He clicks the button and watches the bronze blade appear, glimmering faintly in the low light. It’s been a long time, and yet the feeling that washes over him silences all the noise in his head. It’s bizarre, and a little disturbing, but all Percy feels is relieved. 

He murmurs soundless thanks under his breath that he’s been so diligent with the WD40 when the hatch opens without squeaking. The deck is empty, which doesn’t surprise Percy too much. The smell was definitely wafting from shore. His breath hitches when he thinks of why the monster (or monsters) might be here, and who they might be following.

_Calm down, Percy. It’s just you. They’ve just caught up._

It’s been overdue, really. The water has always helped hide him but it couldn’t last forever. He grips the sword with both hands as he steps silently, quickly jumping to the dock and landing on light feet. His heart races, and he wants to say it’s with fear, but that’s such a small part compared with the excitement.

He sees the monster now. It’s shuffling around the dock next to the gangway, like it wants to follow the trail its on but doesn’t want to get any further out over the water. It’s pretty big, which surprises Percy, and kind of cool-looking in the dim light. Its body seems almost like a large deer, but its head is too round, and something about the way its mouth moves as it paces is more than a little unsettling.

Percy might’ve actually walked away, gone back to his boat and hid until it inevitably moved on, but then it _speaks_.

“Come back! Come back!”

The fact that the monster is calling towards the street in perfect English is unfortunately not the most disturbing part. No, Percy thinks, the worst part is that it has his voice.

“Where are you? Help me!”

It’s so easy to sneak up on it that either this monster is not here for him or this whole thing is a trap. Or both. Percy really hopes it isn’t both. He raises his sword, and now his hands are steady, his focus is single-minded, and as his blade wraps around the thick, mane-covered neck, he feels more comfortable than he has in months.

The blade cuts and the monsters cries out in a perfect imitation of Percy when he is in pain (a sound Percy is very familiar with). Gold dust gleams in the moonlight as the monster falls to the ground. Percy follows it, rolling it to look into the big lion eyes as it weakens.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

The great mouth opens, coughs dust in his face, and the bony ridge in the place of teeth clacks together with each noise. It makes a horrible grating noise, and Percy realizes the monster is laughing. Then the sound changes, and while it’s definitely still laughter, the voice is completely different. It’s low, sharp, and while Percy is sure he’s never heard this laugh before, it shakes his memory like an earthquake.

“What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing here? And what will you do, now that you are found?” It chokes, and before he knows what he’s doing Percy swings his blade in a huge arc and the lions head rolls away from the stag body and off the dock, disintegrating into dust before it hits the water.

That voice, that wasn’t Percy’s. This time, though, he knows why it’s so familiar. He’s heard it before, about a hundred thousand times. He’s heard it from a friend, before that friend was sucked into the earth and lost from the world.

  

* * *

  

A tall, rail-thin man edges along the waterfront. There’s a stiff wind today, catching his cloak and giving the overall impression of a giant bat. He shields his eyes and milky pallor against the morning sun with this hand, and peers out over the sea of boats twisting in their berths. Whatever he’s looking for, he must not see it, because a deep frown sets on his face. He reaches the gangway and walks down slowly, as if with great trepidation. His feet, in severe black boots, touch down on the dock, and linger briefly on a suspicious, glimmering stain just at the end of the gangway. He doesn’t stay in one place for long, though, striding down the dock until he reaches a certain sailboat.

The man gives the innocuous-looking boat a scowl like it has personally offended him. The boat doesn’t respond, just bobbing happily in the small waves, and the man shoves his hands in the pockets of his coat and glares. At that exact moment, the water behind him erupts.

Percy springs from the ocean, sword in hand, sending a good spray of cold seawater right into the face of the man standing in front of his boat. He lands on the dock with ease, simultaneously positioning Riptide right below the intruder’s jaw, but his arm is shaking, and when he finally speaks, his voice breaks.

“Nico di Angelo.”

Nico’s eyes flare for a millisecond before a small smile creeps onto his face. He pushes his dripping hair back from his eyes and tilts his head, ignoring the sword at his throat entirely in favor of carefully appraising the man holding it.

“Hey, Percy,” he says, voice pleasant but with a traceable edge to it, “Long time no see.”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Percy has never not wanted to go back to work.

He loves his job, loves the fishing boat and the guys he sails with. He loves the long days offshore where the difference between success and failure is only how many sailfish you hook. On shore, it’s life and death. On shore, everything is complicated, and Percy is always 100% ready to leave it behind. 

This time it feels like his feet are nailed to the dock.

_It’s only five days_ , he catches himself thinking as he climbs aboard, and then immediately berates himself for his unwillingness. No sooner has the ship pushed off but he wants to be right back on the dock. The pull is so strong he can feel it in his chest, like someone punched him right in the sternum. After their conversation, if you could even call it that, how had he even let Nico out of his sight…

_“This isn’t… what are you… I have to leave. Tomorrow.” It was the only half-cogent sentence Percy could get unstuck from the lump in his throat. Judging by the look on Nico’s face, not cogent enough._

_“I mean, I ship out… for my job, tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone until Friday.”_

_Percy cannot believe he is about to walk away from what might be his only chance… and can’t understand why he hasn’t turned and run already. Nico’s face is unreadable when he speaks._

_“Right. Five days. I’ll just wait, then?”_

_“Will you?” Percy blurts out, and then tries to recover, mortified by how desperate he sounds, “I mean, will you still be around, when I get back?”_

_“Sure.”_

That’s all he got. “Sure”. Seven years, and “sure”. Now, after _only_ five days at sea, he can see the dock getting closer through the fog, and it feels like he’s been punched in the stomach. Apparently five days is just enough time for it to be not nearly enough time at all.

Nico might not have even stuck around, Percy thinks as he packs the catch in ice crates to take ashore. Now, so close to what seemed years away before, he can’t tell if that’s a welcome or horrifying thought. If Nico had bailed, which all things considered seemed the most likely outcome, Percy could just pretend he never showed up at all. He could just go back to his life, sailing his boat and catching fish in a world where gods and monsters don’t exist. Still, the thought of it being a lie, the scant reassurance that Nico said he’d be there when Percy got back from sea, makes Percy feel like he’s about to be sick all over the deck he just finished washing. Which would severely increase the amount of time between Percy and seeing whether Nico kept his word, so he decides against it.

Walking down the dock towards his boat is like running through quicksand. Percy can’t tell if he’s moving this slowly on purpose, but it ends up not mattering. He can see the long, dark figure leaning against his boat long before he realizes that he is nervous and so, so relieved, and all in the same place in his chest.

“Welcome back.”

“You… you’re here.” Percy sounds dumbstruck even in his own head. How sad.

Nico grins at him through the fog, casually straightening his collar.

“Said I would be, didn’t I?”

“You said ‘sure’.”

All Percy gets back is a wry smirk before a long, tense pause. Percy realizes he’s staring. Knows he’s staring. Should probably stop staring. 

Nico tilts his head and somehow the small motion snaps Percy out of it.

“So, not that I don’t enjoy the balmy Maine weather, but do you have a place you can invite me in to?”

It’s Percy’s turn to laugh, though it’s awkward and strained.

“You’re uh, you’re leaning on it.”

Nico does a double-take and gives Percy his best are-you-kidding-me look. Percy blushes, and then feels frustrated with himself. He’s never been anything less than thrilled to live on his boat before now, and one skeptical look from someone he was pretty sure was dead until four days ago shouldn’t change that. Then, Nico seems to relent, giving a small nod and shrugs.

“Right. That explains a lot, actually.”

“It does?”

“Well, it explains why you were so hard to find. All aboard then?”

He steps nimbly onto the upper deck without waiting for an answer and Percy _almost_ doesn’t notice the scuff of Nico’s black boots on the white fiberglass.

Twenty minutes later, Percy finds himself gripping the neck of his beer bottle so hard he’s pretty sure it’s going to shatter at any moment. They’re just sitting, talking, in his galley. Well, Nico is talking, complimenting Percy on his boat (Percy blushes) and asking how this works and how he gets by without this and that amenity. Percy, on the other hand, is staring, occasionally trying to mumbling answers and nod at the right times, though given that Nico is smirking at him he thinks he might just be staring. 

It’s too bizarre for words.

“Percy? It’s your turn to make things not weird now.” 

But apparently it’s too bizarre to fake it, either. Percy’s never been great at pretense. 

“What are you doing here, Nico?”

Nico’s face falls, but it’s nothing compared with the way his dark eyes flash. It’s all gone in a second, anyway. 

“That made it distinctly more weird, sorry. Try again.” 

“No,” Percy cuts him off. He thinks about trying to say more, but the words get stuck. Nico just frowns and avoids eye contact.

“I was bound to turn up eventually.”

“You fell into a chasm.”

“Only for the first mile or so. Hades caught me after he figured he’d given me a good scare.”

Percy cannot imagine anyone trying to give Nico di Angelo “a good scare”, even the god of death himself.

“Only for the first… And then you were gone for 7 years!”

“Actually, only 5. You were gone for the last 2.”

Percy frowns, “What are you talking about?”

Nico plays with the fraying label on his beer and looks nervous for the first time since he showed up on the dock.

“I’ve been out and about since I turned 18. After a while, I checked in at Camp, they said you were gone. No one had seen you in years and your mom was being particularly tight-lipped on the subject of your whereabouts.”

“Then how did you find me?”

Nico smiles, “Oh, I just asked her. She gave me a general range, which makes me think she’s not one-hundred percent on your location either?”

“You talked to my mother?!”

“Sure, though I got the impression you haven’t been lately.”

“That’s none of your business,” Percy snaps, but now he can’t look Nico in the eye. Nico notices, but continues like he doesn’t.

“Anyway, after that it was only a few months. You did call your boat _Anaklusmos_ , but this state still has more harbors than it knows what to do with.”

“Yeah. I like it. It’s easy to avoid seeing anything you don’t want to.”

“And you’re all about avoiding now, aren’t you? They told me Annabeth went to Greece.”

Nico looks around like he expects her to be stashed somewhere, only to leap out and contradict him. Percy glares, and his response is cold.

“Yeah, a little while after the war. Guess I’m not the only one avoiding.”

“Bitterness doesn’t sit well on you.”

“Well, casual house-calls aren’t really your style either,” Percy bites back, unfazed. Condescending comments aren’t enough to break the skin anymore.

“Guess we’re all a little out of our element.”

“I’m not. I’m happy here. I have a life, a job-” 

Nico scoffs, “Oh, right of course. So you’re a… fisherman, now? How charming.” 

“What is your problem?!”

Nico grins at him, and it’s all teeth and no warmth, “Just thought you were always more for swords than spears.”

“Yeah well, people change. Doesn’t explain why you’re suddenly back from the dead.” 

Nico shakes his head and the look he levels at Percy is clearly patronizing.

“Maybe it does. Anyway, as for what I’m doing here, I guess we will just have to wait and see.”

Percy feels the lid on his frustration ready to burst, but his ADHD mind is appraising his back-from-the-dead boat guest. Nico ditched the trench coat when the heater kicked in, and in black skinny jeans and a gray t shirt, Percy can see that Nico’s grown, albeit more vertically than horizontally. The shirt is tighter than the ones he used to wear, and Nico isn’t as wraith-thin as he used to be, with some sinew stretched over the bones. He’s gotten much taller, making him look long and stretched, and with his long hair tied back he looks every bit the willowy rock star. Percy takes a sip of his beer and wonders irritably if Nico is taller than he is.

“Percy? Earth to Percy Jackson?”

“What?” 

“You were being angry?”

He stops staring, mostly. The exhaustion of this whole event right on the heels of four days at sea is falling over him like a cloud, deflating his anger and replacing it with vague sadness. Suddenly he wants nothing more than to be alone again.

“Look, just forget it. I don’t have the energy to be angry with you. If you won’t tell me why you’re here, I need to sleep.”

Nico smiles, “Oh, don’t worry about it. Actually, I better get going. I have some work to get through and I shouldn’t be up all night.”

Percy feels like there’s some small personal joke in there. Then Nico stands, and Percy realizes he just kicked Nico out and he kind of wishes he hadn’t. Somehow fighting is better than the idea of him disappearing again. 

“Okay. Shit, I… okay,” Percy drops his head, but a light hand on his shoulder snaps it back up so quickly it’s like an electric current ran through him.

Nico is grinning, like he picked up entirely too much of the dejected tone in Percy’s voice. He turns to go. 

“Wait,” Percy says, standing suddenly. Nico turns, looking unsurprised but maybe a little curious. Percy clears his throat and tries to remember what he wanted. 

“Do you want to come sailing with me tomorrow?”

Finally, Nico’s calm is shaken. He looks almost taken-aback.

“What?”

“Sailing. You, me, this boat. I’ll even feed you. Just come back tomorrow morning.”

“We’re still not going to talk about it.” 

No further elaboration is needed. Percy nods quickly, defeated.

“Fine, whatever. Don’t think I want to anyway. 7am?”

“Ungodly hour, sounds perfect.”

Percy nods dumbly. He’s still reeling from the buzz of the millisecond of contact, and the ill-advised plan it planted in his head. His brain half-kicks into gear. 

“Good. Wait… what work do you have to do?”

Nico’s grin shifts, “Bounty hunting.”

Between the touch and the look on Nico’s face and _that_ explanation, Percy knows sleep is a long ways off.

  

* * *

 

Percy almost regrets setting the 7am start time. He didn’t sleep at all, just tossed fitfully in his bed and tried not to let the frustration bubble over. The way Nico had responded to his rudeness was disconcerting. Percy remembered him as a heavily introverted but quick to anger teenager, who Percy always seemed to get a rise out of whether he meant to or not. Now, when Percy was clearly mad, Nico could barely be bothered to snap at him. Downright inconsiderate is what it was.

Percy is relieved to have the excuse of sailing to stop trying to sleep. He showers quickly and throws on his normal boating clothes, practical work pants and a light cotton shirt. He picks the shirt his mom always said looked nicest on him, and blushes slightly through brushing his teeth and trying to make his still damp hair go all the same direction. Realizing he’s just going to be out in the wind all day, he blushes more and retreats above deck where he can hopefully stop embarrassing himself.

There’s a stiff breeze, which calms him immediately. He’ll be able to really race today, let his boat show off that she’s better than any old apartment. Plus, the quick-moving air does a nice job erasing all traces of Nico being on his boat – that slight gunpowder smell like someone let off a bunch of firecrackers in the cabin. Percy never disliked it – it kind of reminds him of the 4th of July with the guys from his ship – but it makes him a little dizzy and irrational. Better to start the day with a clear head.

He’s just starting to rig up the lines for the mainsail when Nico appears on the dock like he came from thin air.

“Hi, Percy,” he says, announcing himself, and then a thoughtful look comes over his face, “Or should I say ‘ahoy, mate’ or something?”

Percy chuckles before he can help it, reaching up to catch the line and tie it off to the top sail ring.

“No, ‘Hi, Percy’ works for me. Hi, Nico. Do you ever just walk anywhere anymore?”

Nico just smiles and steps over the lifeline. Percy’s smile widens when he realizes Nico has traded his heavy black-soled boots for converse. He’s even almost dressed appropriately, probably a little too much black for the typical sailing community, but with an upgraded bomber jacket that might even keep him warm. 

“Can I help?” 

Percy steps from the hatch and starts undoing the sail ties from around the boom.

“Ever sailed before? I mean, on a normal boat.”

Nico gives him a disparaging look, which Percy brushes off.

“Hey, not my fault you won’t tell me what you’ve been up to for the past 7 years.”

He kind of regrets going there so quickly, but Nico doesn’t take the bait this time either. 

“Did not involve sailing.”

Percy turns back to his work, “Yeah, in that case, probably not. I’ve got a pretty good handle on this part, make yourself comfortable.”

Percy finishes rigging the sails in record time, partially because he’s showing off and partially because Nico has indeed made himself comfortable, stretching out on one of the benches, and watching Percy like a hawk. Percy can’t tell if he’s trying to learn something about sailing or if supervising him is just part of Nico’s agenda for being here in the first place. Either way, it’s only about 10 minutes of semi-comfortable silence before Percy calls out,

“Okay, we’re about ready to go here. You want to bring in the fenders?”

Nico springs up like he’s been waiting for something to do, and Percy feels a little guilty for not including him in the preparation.

“Sure. You want me to take them off, Captain?”

Percy rolls his eyes, but nods, “There’s a deck hatch under your seat where they should all fit. And shut up.”

“Right away, Captain.”

Nico struggles a little with packing the fenders into the small compartment, which Percy only enjoys for a minute before helping him. He then hops onto the dock and starts un-cleating the lines.

Nico manages to mask his concern pretty quickly, and achieves casual disinterest instead.

“You know, if you’re not on this boat when it drifts out to sea, there is nothing I can do to bring it back.” 

Percy laughs, finishing the last line.

“Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere with out me.”

“I’m not worried- wait, _she_?”

Percy steps quickly over the widening gap between _Anaklusmos_ and the dock and stations himself at the tiller.

“Yes, she. Obviously.”

Nico raises his eyebrows.

“So, _she_ is your boat, your house, and your girlfriend?”

Percy smiles, guiding his boat (and house and girlfriend) towards the mouth of the harbor.

“Maybe,” he concedes, “but I’m not really in the market for a girlfriend.” 

Nico gives him an indecipherable look, so Percy adds, “She’s more of a completely platonic wife.”

Nico scoffs and leans back against the gunwale. Percy watches the wind push his hair back as he smirks.

“Thought that was all wives.” 

“Har har,” Percy says, but it’s actually pretty funny, mostly because, “what are either of us ever going to know about that?”

Nico just smirks, and this time, the silence is actually pretty comfortable. 

Percy traces all the familiar routes, and after about an hour they’re cruising around the north end of Peak’s Island. Nico actually looks as relaxed as Percy can ever remember seeing him until Percy says,

“Hey, I’m gonna grab some gear from below deck. Hold this.” And he grabs Nico’s hand at puts it on the tiller.

Nico’s eyes go pie-plate wide, “Percy, no, this is a terrible-“

“You’ll be fine. Just hold it straight.”

“I don’t know how to do that!”

Percy finds himself wishing they were friends, really friends, so he could make that joke. Instead, he ignores it.

“I’m only going below for a second. Just need a pole and my tackle box.” 

This confuses Nico enough that he stops panicking about steering the boat, “What, like a fishing pole?” 

“Yeah,” Percy shouts from below deck, grabbing the rod and reel from its hook above his bed and a small box of lures from the shelf. He climbs back on deck, smiling. 

“Said I would feed you, didn’t I?”

He makes Nico steer while he fastens the leader and the silver lure to the line. Finally setting the rod in the holder he’d made out of PVC pipe, he takes the helm back from Nico, trying not to laugh and Nico shakes the blood back into his fingers.

“So that’s it? You just trail a hook behind your boat and wait for something to bite it?” 

“Yeah,” Percy laughs, changing their trajectory just enough to slow down a little, “It’s called trolling. If I wanted to show off I could take you to my secret fishing spot and teach you to cast, but I figured this would be more your speed.”

Nico nods, “Yeah, no showing off required. I’m already impressed enough, try not to overdo it.”

Percy thinks that might’ve been sarcasm. 

“So,” Nico says, probably after realizing staring at the fishing rod doesn’t make it catch things, “This what you do with your free time now?” 

“Pretty much,” Percy replies, keeping his eyes on the water, “I mean, usually I’m away, for work I mean. This is the longest break I’ll get all summer, since the ship needed some repairs. Other than this, I work on my boat, do odd jobs around town… stuff like that.”

“That sounds… quiet.”

“The boat is more work than you’d think, but yeah, it is.”

Nico levels a hard stare at him, like he’s trying to figure something out. 

“And that’s what you want?”

Percy bites off a quick ‘yes’ and shrugs instead, “You might try it sometime. I assume whatever you’ve been up to wasn’t very quiet.”

Why Nico picks this moment to be honest, Percy isn’t sure, but he isn’t about to interrupt and ask. 

“Not very quiet, no. Hades needed a front man, someone who can go above ground and track down people trying to skip their turn on the ferry or when someone can’t pay their toll. Either I catch up with death-shirkers, or I shake down families to get pay the fare for their dead relatives. Bounty hunting. Either way, no one ever goes quietly.”

Percy feels vaguely horrified, but Nico just rattled off that job description like he works at a local bank, so he tries to cover it.

“I think I’ll stick with fishing.”

Nico shakes his head, “Those aren’t your only two options.” Still, he doesn’t present another one. 

It’s at that moment that the line zings through the reel, and Percy is securing Nico’s hand over the tiller with his own before either of them can delve further down this conversational road. He ignores it when Nico twitches violently, seeing to retrieving dinner before it escapes. He pulls up the medium sized striped bass without much difficulty. Guy has the hook firmly in his lip – he must’ve really attacked it. Percy retrieves a long knife from his belt. Nico looks a little taken aback.

“What are you doing?”

Percy flips the large white cutting board on its hinge so it hangs mostly over the side of the boat. He holds the fish’s body in his left hand, setting up the knife with his right. A quick look at the engraved ruler says the fish is legal size.

“Catching dinner. This going to be a problem for you? Because that would be pretty ironic.”

Nico glares, but he isn’t laughing it off either, “No, but-“

Percy presses quickly and the fish’s head is off. He flips it into the water with the edge of the knife. He guts and cleans the animal with calm efficiency and makes quick work of the trail of deep red blood with his deck hose. Satisfied that everything is well-rinsed, Percy heads below deck, wrapping the fish tightly and sticking it in the fridge. It all takes less than five minutes, and when he returns topside, Nico is doing a good job of holding the boat on course.

Percy sits across from him, but makes no move to take the tiller back. He leans back and enjoys the sun and salt spray on his face.

“No but what?”

Nico takes a long time to answer, but eventually he clarifies,

“No but, can’t you _hear_ them?” 

Percy shrugs dismissively, “A little, not as well as when I’m underwater. I tune it out. It isn’t hard – not like other stuff that can shout, or beg.”

That ends that discussion. Percy takes the tiller back. 

Coming around the south side of Peak’s, the wind shifts a little, making Percy grin. He makes a few quick adjustments to the rigging. Nico finally asks,

“Why do you do this? Sail by hand, I mean. I’ve seen you drive 3-masted ships without lifting a finger. Why go through the trouble?” 

Percy gives him a quick look. Nico is leaning forward, interested. It’s an improvement from the last twenty minutes or so, after the fish, where Nico was looking at him like he hadn’t ever seen him perform effortless murder before. Percy grins. 

“I like it. I guess it’d be easier just to tell the boat what to do, but I think that’d be boring. Plus, it’s a lot more satisfying to read the wind, adjust the sails, and haul ass, than to just make it happen magically. See, watch.”

Percy lets the sails out just enough that they start to luff, then pulls back until they fill with air once again. _Anaklusmos_ leaps forward, and Percy fights the tiller, trimming the perfect amount, to make her to fly over the water, fast, close as she’ll get to the wind. Nico leans back, hand over the side, seemingly unconcerned about the water splashing his arm.

“So, it’s the rush? The challenge?”

Percy shrugs, “Maybe, I guess. It’s exciting.”

Nico looks satisfied with that answer, even if Percy isn’t.

“There might just be hope for you, yet.”

The sun is just starting to set when they make it back to the harbor, and since the strong winds of the afternoon chilled the late summer day right down, Percy can see Nico is starting to get cold. He thinks about offering him a sweater, but doesn’t like his chances there and elects instead to suggest that they go below deck and make some dinner. Nico takes a moment to agree, and Percy pretends not to notice the slight raise of Nico’s eyebrows as he follows Percy down the narrow stairs.

Percy starts the meticulous process of deboning the fish as Nico leans against the opposite wall of the tiny kitchen, fidgeting. It has to be said, Percy’d probably be doing the same thing if he didn’t have the familiar weight of a knife in his hand. Hanging out with Nico on the open water is pretty different from having him back here in a small space. Percy wishes he was better at making idle conversation, just to alleviate some of the awkward tension, but these days his life doesn’t involve much unnecessary talking.

“I should’ve brought something,” Nico breaks the silence abruptly, and Percy starts, almost missing with the knife as his head shoots up to look at his house guest.

“Nah,” he replies, turning to retrieve some vegetables from the tiny refrigerator, “You’re fine, I-“ the smell of brimstone fills the cabin and when Percy turns back around, Nico is setting a fancy-looking bottle of white wine on the counter. Percy’s eyes flick from it to Nico’s face, which is smirking back at him.

“… did you just steal that?”

Nico scoffs, “Oh, don’t tell me that offends you.”

Percy is actually closer to impressed, at how far Nico’s shadow-traveling has come, but he feels like admitting to any of that would be unwise, so he just shakes his head and goes back to getting dinner on the table.

 

* * *

  

“I have to say, this is pretty good, Percy.”

Percy chuckles as he finishes off his meal, catching Nico’s eye with a smug look on his face.

“You sound surprised.”

Nico has the decency to look a little sheepish.

“Well, I tend to not like fish much, strictly speaking.”

Percy puts his fork down, picking up his glass of stolen wine to occupy his hands so he doesn’t give Nico a playful shove that might be too friendly.

“You might’ve mentioned.” 

Nico shrugs, “Thought I’d give it another try, it’s been a while.”

“Italian, not liking fish,” Percy says with mock disdain, “Can’t have that.”

Nico just smirks and drinks some of his wine, so Percy does too. Come to think of it, he’s been following Nico’s lead on the drinking, and they’ve made it through most of the bottle by this method. Percy feels a little tipsy, which isn’t too surprising since he doesn’t drink much these days. Just a few beers with the guys on the boat, never enough to get drunk since you never know when you’ll be back on deck with a harpoon and you _do not_ want to suffer the wrath that comes with missing your shot.

“Hey, I’m just surprised you can cook something without any blue food coloring in it,” Nico says with a laugh, but immediately his face falls and he looks like he wishes he could take the words back.

Percy knows the feeling. They’ve been brushing around the edges of a real conversation all evening, but for his part Percy feels compelled to stay on the eggshells. He doesn’t want to push too hard on the guy that can actually disappear the second he feels like it, doesn’t know how long it’ll take Nico to come back if he scares him off. So Percy tries not to say anything that would make Nico leave, and wonders when he got to be such a coward.

“Can you at least tell me where you’re staying?” Percy asks, trying to give Nico an easy out to the conversation down memory lane he’d just started. Nico takes it, but he doesn’t look relieved.

“Hotel in town.”

“Wow, got you put up in a proper room then? No more camping on the outskirts?”

Okay, maybe Percy does want to get him talking about the old days, just to acknowledge that they happened. He really wants to know if any of the old Nico di Angelo made it out the other side.

“No, elected to keep a roof over my head for this trip.”

“You know, you could always stay here,” Percy blurts out, then feels his face burning. It’s too familiar, too soon. He just wants it back, the long-forgotten feeling of being around a friend, instead of the anxious clench in his chest that Nico gives him now. Come to think of it, maybe he’s delusional. Not like he and Nico ever had the most comfortable of relationships, but this ache, the nervous energy, it’s wearing him out. In his years of isolation, it’d been easy to pretend no one else existed outside of Percy’s small life, but now, with it staring at him suspiciously across his tiny living room, Percy can’t ignore it.

“Is that so,” Nico finally replies, looking more curious than anything, “Wouldn’t I be invading your new, normal life, by crashing on your couch?”

Percy feels his chest crack a little, lets a wisp of the truth out.

“I didn’t really want that. To walk out entirely. I mean, I did, but… it got harder and harder to go back, once I’d started. I didn’t mean to abandon… anyone.”

Nico sits back, his hand stilling from where it’d been circling his glass. Maybe he didn’t expect Percy to cross the line, since they’d both been so dead-set on hiding everything. Percy slumps forward in his chair, elbows on the table. When he speaks, it’s resigned.

“You wouldn’t be invading.”

Nico almost smiles, and (Percy likes to think) almost considers the misguided offer, but then he finishes the wine in his glass and shakes his head.

“That’s kind, but I’m on the company dollar. Might as well keep the room, which I should probably be getting back to, now that you mention it.”

Percy nods, and feels his heart sink. He feels a little panicky as Nico stands, clearing their plates to Percy’s sink. He tells himself it’s for the best, as they make their way out of the cabin, that he’ll be able to clear his head when Nico’s gone, to think through his words better. Because Percy might not have meant to abandon anyone, but that was only because they didn’t need him anymore. He did mean to leave, and he’s pretty sure he never meant to go back, as much as he suddenly wants to deny it.

The night air is chilly and Nico pulls his jacket on. Percy hops up on the gunwale and steadies himself on one of the mast stays. He looks down at Nico, who surprises him by looking right back.

“Well,” Percy clears his throat, annoyed with how nervous his voice sounds, “I’ve used my number one ploy of sailing to lure you back here. I’m out of gimmicks.”

Nico gives him a genuine smile, and Percy’s heart flutters a little. He kind of wants to squash it. Like a bug. 

“Do you want me to come back?” Nico asks quietly.

Percy nods, not trusting himself to say anything. Nico gives him an indecipherable look before turning his gaze out to the water.

“Then I will.”

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork for this chapter: http://grell-e.deviantart.com/art/PJO-Riptide-1-477002366

Nico doesn’t specify a time, but it ends up being close to sunset the following day. Percy drives himself just about stir crazy in the meantime. Going for a long swim (the old fashioned way, regular breaths and everything) that morning took some of the edge off, but other than that there just isn’t that much needs doing. Normally, with only a few days left on leave, Percy’d be ashore, stocking up on frozen food and other snacks that would keep for when he got back from his next trip and was too exhausted to bother with cooking, but for some reason, setting foot on land today is not an option. It’s probably because he’d be too tempted to go looking for Nico, loitering around hotels and making a general nuisance of himself, but Percy’s at a loss for what else to do - his boat is clean, waxed, in perfect order, and he doesn’t even have a TV to waste the day in front of.

He finally settles for lying on his deck, headphones in, listening to The Hobbit on his Ipod. Audiobooks, man, a lifesaver for the dyslexic. He can usually only manage about twenty minutes before something distracts him, so it’s slow-going, but it’s a great story and he’s trying to power through it-

A loud voice pesters the edge of his focus, but Bilbo and Co. have just gotten to Beorn’s house and Percy misses most of what the voice says. The thumping of heavy boots on the deck of his boat is enough to get his attention though, and Percy’s eyes fly open to see Nico standing above him, glowering. Percy slowly takes out his headphones.

“Hey, Nico,” he grins, but his voice sounds way too enthusiastic to be allowed. He’s about to try and dial it back when Nico bites out. 

“Oh, good to know you’re not completely oblivious, but I’m sorry, are you insane?”

Percy frowns, “What?”

“The sun is almost down, and you’re just lying here, out in the open, with your eyes closed and your headphones in?”

Percy rolls his eyes, trying not to get too annoyed, though honestly, it’s better than the pointless joy he felt when he first opened his eyes.

“It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood, Nico. Take my word for it.” 

“So you do this often, then? Hang around, completely defenseless? Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?”

“Gods, Nico, lay off,” Percy bites back, but it doesn’t come out as strong as he’d meant it to, because there’s an odd tremor in Nico’s voice that keeps Percy from getting truly angry, “I’m not completely defenseless.”

“I could’ve killed you eight separate times.” 

All Percy wants to know now is how long Nico has been watching him. He shrugs it off,

“Well, that’s very thorough, but I’m pretty sure you’re far and away the most dangerous thing in this town.”

Nico gives him a blank look, before mumbling something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like “not for long”. He clears his throat and speaks clearly,

“Well, pull it together. We have a problem.”

Percy sits up, frowning,

“What?”

Nico is frowning, but there’s a light in his eyes that Percy dimly remembers from a long time ago.

“Monsters.” 

Nico leads him up the gangway, and Percy tries not to flinch as his boots crunch the gravel of the parking lot. Tries not to think of what happened the last time he set foot on dry land. Of course, Nico notices.

“What?”

Percy shakes his head like the motion will clear out the wave of paranoia. 

“Nothing, just… last time I tried to come ashore, this really weird thing happened…”

Nico actually smirks, “Feel like you got stuck in cement?”

Percy stares at him, but Nico just chuckles, turning back and walking ahead and leaving Percy no choice but to follow.

“Y-yeah… cement, in the Arctic, with about half as much oxygen as I needed.”

“Sorry about that. Couldn’t have you following me.”

“That was _you_?!”

“Yeah. New trick. Well, I say ‘new’… Wait, _that_ was the last time you were ashore?”

“Um, yeah, but I’m sorry, I’m still stuck on the ‘it was you’ thing.” 

Nico just scoffs and grumbles.

“No wonder. Come on, follow me.” 

Nico leads him to a tall brick building, approaching from a grungy back alley. It’s good and dusky now, but the black shadow of the fire escape nailed into the brick is hard to miss. Nico jumps and grabs the lowest rung of the ladder like it isn’t a few feet over his head, pulling it down and climbing up quickly at the same time. He climbs like it’s nothing, like it’s effortless, halfway up before Percy can plant his feet on the first ledge. Percy follows, glad hauling nets and throwing harpoons works roughly the same muscles as breaking and entering or this could get real embarrassing real fast. He plants his fingers in the bricks of the flat roof and hauls himself up, following Nico to the opposite edge to lie down and peer into the street below.

“You see them?”

Percy’s about to say ‘no’ when he does see them, painfully obvious as they prowl up the cobblestones. Two, just like the one he saw on the docks, but bigger, much bigger, great prowling creatures with gaping mouths and oddly pointed faces, tails swishing behind him.

Nico nods, accepting the confirmation in Percy’s face, “Leukrokottai.”

“Leukra-what now? There are more of these guys?” 

Nico gives him a disparaging look, “You’re kidding right? So little faith in yourself, you think they’d send just one to polish you off? Though, I guess with that stunt on the docks today, maybe one would’ve done it…” 

“What do you mean, faith in myself? And who the hell is ‘they’?”

“Well, they – the Leukrokottai - are here for you, obviously,” Nico says offhandedly, not even bothering to turn his head, “As for the other ‘they’, unfortunately - and it pains me to admit it – I have no idea.” 

For some reason, this annoys Percy.

“Hey, there haven’t been any real monsters around here before. Just little guys, passing through. They could be here for you.”

“No,” Nico says bluntly.

“Oh really?”

Nico’s eyes dart to him before continuing to follow the Leukrokottai down the street. He finally explains, but something about it rings empty to Percy.

“They got here before me. I’ve been tracking the pack for a few days.”

Percy feels a surge of bitter victory. 

“So you weren’t here for me after all.”

The words sound more dejected than he would’ve preferred. Nico just shakes his head.

“Don’t kid yourself. Pack of level 5’s moving in a bee-line up the coast – where else do you think they’d be going? I just let them lend a hand in finding you. Hoof. Whatever.”

“Level 5’s?”

“Yes, but unimportant. Focus, Percy. I’m going to need your help.”

Percy scoffs, “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Flattering, but incorrect. You fought one the other night. Any particular skills you noticed?”

Percy frowns, remembering. The voice… of course, now he has to admit to himself just whose voice it was. Nico’s very human voice coming out of that saw-edged mouth. Highly disconcerting to say the least.

“Voice imitation.” 

Nico nods, “Very good. Now there are two of them. Do you see how this could become a problem for one person?”

Nico talks to him like someone would talk to a petulant teenager (old habits die hard, Percy supposes), but that somehow still annoys him less than the fact that there are two giant monsters strolling down the center of town. He really wants to suggest that they might go away if ignored, but instead he sighs, trying to channel his irritation into monster dispatching instead of at Nico, who Percy still somewhat blames for their presence in the first place. 

“Fine, fine. We split up, flank the side streets, catch them crosswise?” 

“See, I knew you couldn’t be completely useless. Mind the voices.”

Percy is still frowning as he jogs steadily on the parallel street to the north. He checks his corners automatically as he passes the one block mark, uncapping Riptide and watching the bronze gleam in the dusk. He taps the sword twice on the wall to his right, almost out of habit, until he hears a corresponding two taps from two blocks down. It was an old trick, half-remembered, from when he used to go on missions, and talking was dangerous. Percy is surprised he remembers it, but being as Nico never mentioned a contingency plan for not speaking, maybe he shouldn’t be.

Peering around the next building offers him a glimpse of the Leukrokottai’s tails as they wind around the corner, so he taps the bricks once and picks up the pace. Next block should be the ticket. He ducks his head out quickly from behind the next corner, just in time to see the badger-like snout of one beast appear. He edges along the wall, silently, ready to burst out as soon as he sees Nico come from the other side. 

The closer of the two Leukrokottai sniffs the air, and turns, big yellow eyes staring right at him.

“Shit.” 

Apparently not quietly enough. The creature hisses, alerting its buddy, and pivots faster than something so large should be capable of. It charges at Percy. The other follows, and Percy pushes off the wall, bracing, sword already cutting through the air.

A shadow opens up between the monsters and Nico steps out of it just in time to clip the second beast’s side with his blade. Percy doesn’t have time to be shocked, though, because Leukrokottas numero uno is on him, and Riptide slices through the air, almost of its own accord, the way it has always felt like an extension of his arm. An extension that’s not as accurate as it used to be, though, because he misses wide.

The annoyance evaporates into rage. There is no way, Percy thinks, that his life is getting invaded by monsters _and_ he’s lost all his sword fighting chops, all in the same day. A spare glance to Nico confirms he’s getting shown up, because Nico’s inky blade is spinning in an arc above his head only to clip off the monster’s front paw like it’s slicing through butter. Percy turns back to his own problems, ducking a paw and kicking the beast right in the chest, sending it sprawling across the stones on its back. It rolls on its stomach to stand, and Percy hears faintly through the rush of blood in his ears.

“No, Percy, don’t! Please, I’ll do anything! I love-“ And Percy leaps through the air, one foot planting firmly between the monster’s shoulders, both hands gripping the hilt of Riptide as he drives the point of the blade through its skull, out the roof of its mouth, pinning it to the pavement. Blood spurts from the wound, all over Percy and the ground. Percy is seething, heart racing, but the blood only shocks him for a second, because the small part of his brain that isn’t flooded with victory is checking on Nico, who is just staring at him in horror. 

Staring, and then catching a full on swipe of claws right across the chest. He doesn’t shout, just releases half a groan as he stumbles backwards, and the monster’s mouth is wide open, baring down. Percy’s right hand finds Riptide and in one motion, pulls the blade from one beast’s head and throws it with all his might, right through the eye of the other one. There’s more blood, a lot more, and Leukrokottas number two drops dead on the stones with Riptide standing proudly out of the side of its face.

Percy makes quick work of the distance between him and Nico, crouching down and catching Nico around the ribs with one arm. He pulls him to sitting. Nico has the audacity to rasp a laugh.

“More swords than spears, indeed.”

Percy ignores this.

“You okay? Doesn’t look too deep…”

Nico coughs a little, shaking his head. He looks furious.

“Gods, I’m fine, just such a fucking stupid piece of- oh.”

“Oh?” But Nico points with his free hand and Percy looks to see a woman standing just out of the intersection, feet surrounded by the spilled contents of grocery bags. Her mouth is wide open, eyes flicking between them and the bodies of the Leukrokottai.

Percy chuckles a little.

“What do you think she’s seeing?” he whispers to Nico, but Nico doesn’t look amused. He just shakes his head rapidly. Percy barely has time to look back at the woman before she starts screaming, hands clawing desperately at her face. They both stare at her, just listening, until her breath gives out and she heaves another lungful before running in the opposite direction, her yells echoing off the walls and pavement.

“I think she’s seeing exactly what we’re seeing. We need to get out of here. Now.”

Percy barely has his mouth open to respond before a black wave washes over his eyes and he feels his body take flight.

They’re back on _Anaklusmos_ , and Nico falls sideways from Percy’s slackened arm. 

“Shit, Nico- no, I got you. Hold on, let me get you below deck-“

“No,” Nico shakes his head, sinking to a seat besides the helm. Percy has no choice but to help him, “Here’s fine. It’s not… too bad, just need to sit for a minute.”

Percy eases Nico down and covertly checks the injury – long, ripping tears through his shirt, right into the skin of his chest, crusting over and still trickling blood from the seams. Percy winces.

“Is it the scratch, or the fact that you can now pin-point shadow-traveling mid-fight?”

“It’s, uh…” Nico winces again, avoiding Percy’s eyes, “… listen, Percy, about what the Leukrokottas said, before you lobotomized it… that was pretty intense, by the way-“

“Yeah, well,” Percy grins, and slowly starts peeling Nico’s shirt away from the sticky wound, “Couldn’t have you showing me up. And about nothing. No one says that to me but you.”

There’s a long silence, and Percy thinks he might’ve done more harm than good, trying to let Nico off the hook. If that’s even what he was trying to do. Nico stares at him, eyes wide, and Percy pulls the shirt up the rest of the way just to break eye contact. 

“Gods, this looks fucking horrible.”

Nico smirks, but groans as the cotton peels away and is tossed aside, “It looks worse than it is… I think. Do you have anything? Gods, breathing hurts. Typical.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some bandages below.”

“I was hoping for something a little less completely useless.”

Percy tries not to snap.

“Well that’s what I’ve got. Do you want it or not?”

Nico huffs, “Fine, whatever you have is fine. I’ve got to make a call.”

Percy hurries below deck. The way Nico said it, about making a call, makes Percy feel like he wanted some space. Ignoring the rush of irritation at being asked for space on his own boat, Percy takes his time anyway. The bandages are stashed in the back of the bottom of a cupboard, never used, and when he finds them he sets them aside on the counter and goes about getting some ice in a bag.

When Nico’s voice starts to carry from the deck, Percy tries not to eavesdrop. Really, he does. Tries, and fails miserably. 

“We have a problem.”

Whoever is on the other end of the line is clearly making more of an effort to keep their voice down, because Percy can’t make out their words. It sounds like a man speaking, and the voice sounds agitated, but that’s all he can gather. He absolutely doesn’t strain his ears to listen in.

“Yes, well, it’s happening faster than we thought. Tonight, after we took out a pair of Leukrokottai, there was this woman…”

The other voice whispers something harshly. 

“Yes, _we_ , together, no, my judgment is fine. Gods will you just focus?” Nico bites back, but he sounds a little flustered, “The woman. She looked right at us. Saw the whole thing. And, there was blood.” 

There’s a long pause, and Percy finds himself with his ear pressed to the cabin door.

“He isn’t ready.”

The other end of the line is still inaudible whispering, but suddenly Percy feels like he knows exactly what they’re discussing.

“That’s just fantastic,” Nico says in a way that makes Percy sure it isn’t fantastic at all, “But it doesn’t change the fact that I need more time with him.”

Percy can hear the noise of a response, but no clear words. He’s a little hung up on being confused about why Nico sounding so sarcastic is so appealing. Whatever the speaker on the other end says, though, it makes Nico’s voice ice over entirely. 

“Fine. I’ll try. He won’t come willingly.”

More obscured murmuring, and then maybe the caller forgets to whisper, because 

“… why we bothered sending you at all.”

It isn’t a nice voice. Nico lets out a frustrated groan and when there is no response, Percy gently pushes open the door, ice and bandages in hand. 

“All done?” he tries to keep his voice as neutral as possible, but Nico just rolls his eyes.

“You’d know. Find your first aid kit?”

“That tone will get you nowhere, di Angelo.” 

But that’s a lie, because Percy sets the items aside on the seat and gently moves Nico’s arms out of the way. Nico is surprisingly cooperative, and even marred as he is, it’s easier to see how Nico has filled out without the obscuring t shirt. Percy grabs the cloth he’s soaked in ice water and begins cleaning the crusted blood from Nico’s chest. He tries not to look at the wound too much, eyes drifting instead to the smooth collarbones, hard stomach, barest hint of-

“See something you like, Jackson?” 

Percy flushes a little, but just shrugs and rings out the towel, letting the bloody water run down the scuppers as he soaks the cloth again and continues cleaning. The worst of the mess is running into the harbor when he finally asks, 

“So. What was that about?” 

Nico sighs, “In town or that call?” 

“Are the answers so different?”

Nico almost smiles, “Maybe. Depends. In town, it’s the problem. In the call, it’s about the solution. Maybe. Hopefully.” His voice softens slightly on the last word, and Percy’s eyes flick up involuntarily to his. 

Percy asks, already dreading the answer, “What’s the problem?”

“The Mist.”

Percy frowns, “What about it?”

“It’s… failing,” Nico hesitates, and suddenly clutches Percy’s forearm when he presses a little too hard with the cloth.

“Sorry, sorry. What do you mean, it’s failing?”

Nico shakes his head, slowly unclenching his hand from around Percy’s arm.

“People are… seeing things. Things they shouldn’t.”

Percy thinks about the woman screaming. He thinks about the blood. No gold dust, no ichor, just… blood.

“That’s pretty vague, Nico.” He sets aside the wet cloth for a dry one, patting over Nico’s chest and grabbing a small tube of antibiotic ointment. Nico laughs dryly but doesn’t protest.

“I know. I’m sorry, I’m not the one to explain. Plus, I’ve got orders.”

Percy looks up sharply from where he’s applying ointment.

“Orders? That you’re actually going to follow?”

“Pretty much,” Nico replies, chagrined, “At least until I find out about the solution.”

“Which is?”

“Depends,” Nico shrugs, and winces. Percy grabs the bandages and starts winding them slowly around Nico’s chest and upper rib cage.

“On what?”

“On you.”

Percy feels annoyance threatening to bubble over even as he carefully presses the gauze over Nico’s skin with his fingers.

“Nico, I swear if you do not-“

“Will you come with me?”

Percy stops, but Nico makes no sign to move. Percy’s fingers pause on his skin before tucking the tail of the gauze in and pinning it with a metal clip.

“Where?”

Nico smiles, but it’s grim and sad,

“Does that affect the answer?”

Percy thinks for a moment. Of his life before, the routine. Getting up, cleaning his boat, sailing around the coast, showing up for duty, fishing, days at sea with the crew, coming home to… nothing. The same empty cabin. He thinks of seeing Nico surveying the harbor from the shore, of finding him where he promised he’d be, leaning against _Anaklusmos_ in the fog. He thinks about the monsters, how they’re back, how it felt it have a sword in his hands, how it felt to kill… and how it felt to see Nico get hurt. He feels the spark of curiosity, of adventure, long dormant, flicker and cough to life, and along with it, the violence and rage. 

“I guess not.”

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

“I still don’t understand why we can’t just shadow-travel.” 

Nico is complaining, again, as he passes Percy the last brown bag of provisions over the side before climbing aboard _Anaklusmos_ himself. He only winces a little as he leans down to steady himself on the railing, and Percy knows that underneath yet another t-shirt the wound is healing quickly. Too quickly, really, considering how woefully undersupplied Percy had been on any real first aid (Hannaford doesn’t sell ambrosia or nectar, but they’ve bought them out of potato chips). Today’s t-shirt is dark red, Percy’s brain supplies uselessly as he secures the groceries below deck. He turns to see Nico’s arms stretched over his head, pulling back his hair into a practical mess. It ages Nico instantly, but Percy’s stomach sort of flips like maybe it’s not a bad thing.

“I’m not leaving her here,” Percy responds, finally, and he makes no secret of how tired he’s growing of this argument.

“Right, right, the boat. Always with the boat.”

“Yes, always with the boat.”

He doesn’t explain more than that. He doesn’t explain that _Anaklusmos_ is his friend, and after seven years, probably the only one he still has (confusing relationship with Nico aside). He doesn’t explain that after walking out on so many people he’d once fought and killed for, he’s not leaving anyone else behind, and that includes inanimate objects. He definitely doesn’t explain that insisting on sailing down to Camp Half Blood means he’ll have a place to sleep that isn’t Cabin #3, or that he’d like to be able to escape camp without Nico’s help, if it comes to that.

He doesn’t explain, but the look on Nico’s face says maybe he doesn’t have to.

“Anyway, will you sit down?” Percy interjects, steering the non-conversation away from awkward soul-baring, “You’re going to fuck up your bandages.”

“How can I, I can hardly breathe under how tight you wrapped them,” Nico shoots back, but he also sits down, so Percy calls it a victory.

“All part of my plan to keep you quiet.”

“How’s that going?”

“Not great,” Percy admits, but he grins at Nico anyway.

It’s about 400 nautical miles to New York if Percy takes the offshore route. If there’s a good head of wind over the shoals, and he doesn’t take breaks, Percy can manage 100 miles a day. Four days on the ocean. Long stretches alone at sea is nothing new for Percy, but now that he has company, he feels a little nervous. Four days on a small boat with Nico. The guys he ships out with, they’re good company, equal parts stoic silence and rowdy exuberance when the situation permits. He has a feeling traveling with Nico is going to be quite different.

Percy sighs as he rigs up the mainsail. He’d left a message on the Captain’s cell yesterday, saying he was going out of town and he didn’t know when he’d be back. He knows he’ll be replaced as fast as he was hired in the first place, but it still gives Percy a pang of regret to leave without every saying a proper goodbye.

“What am I even doing?” he mumbles to himself. Nico calls from the stern, just in time to shake him out of his guilt.

“Abducting me on the high seas, apparently. Very piratey, not a bad look for you. What can I do to make the least amount of nuisance, Cap’n?”

“Sit there and look pretty. Knew I should’ve gone for the governor’s daughter.”

Nico smirks, “Oh, I bet she’s not as much fun.” 

The stomach flip Percy gets when Nico smiles at him is starting to feel a lot like nausea. 

It’s smooth sailing for most of the afternoon, but Percy isn’t surprised. The harbor and surrounding bays are pretty sheltered from the worst weather, and it isn’t so late in the summer that the fall winds will be really kicking yet. He aims about a half mile out and sets a southwest course. Nico leans his arms on the sides and looks at the shore.

“I can kind of see it,” he mutters after a while.

“Hmm? See what?” Percy asks, not looking up from the chart he’s consulting. He’s going to have to be pretty careful heading off shore if he wants to stick to calm waters…

“This place. Why you’re here. I can kind of see it.” 

Percy looks up. The sun lights half of Nico’s face, making his complexion look more healthy pale than ghoulish. There’s sea spray hitting the skin of his forearms as he drapes them over the side. He looks almost comfortable, or at least as comfortable as Percy’s ever seen him. Percy feels a pang of regret that they both have to go back to the world. 

“Yeah well, we’ll see if you still feel that way tonight.”

Nico tilts his head to look at Percy, eyebrows knit slightly but other than that seemingly too relaxed to care.

“What happens tonight?”

Percy frowns, looking at the clouds on the horizon.

“Weather, I think. Someone isn’t happy to see me.”

 

* * *

 

Percy ends up being exactly right, which is simultaneously just as satisfying as always and yet really hard to feel good about when the chance of death seems so high. The relentless downpour on his face kind of takes the edge off his smirk. He pulls the hood of his jacket farther over his face, focusing on the compass mounted on the console instead of ahead where the horizon is completely obscured by the waves and rain.

“You weren’t kidding.” 

The hoarse shout from in front of him makes Percy’s head snap up. He blinks through the rain to see Nico hunched over, coming out of the cabin. He’s wrapped up in Percy’s spare rain slicker, the orange one, and he might as well be in a giant orange tent. It makes Percy smile, even though he can barely see through the water in his eyes.

“Nope. That’s a good look for you.” 

“It smells like fish and it says JACKSON in big letters on the front!”

Percy just grins and checks his heading, quickly correcting when he sees the wind has blown him a bit off course during his distraction.

“Percy, this is insane! Can’t you handle things from down below?” 

Percy shrugs, “Maybe, maybe not. She’s, the boat I mean, a little too small for these seas, and…”

Nico sits next to him, frowning as he pulls the coat tighter. The wind catches his hair and whips it across his face.

“You expecting an attack?”

Percy shrugs again. The tiller shudders under his hands, and the boat keels under the next gust. At least they’re making good time, though the massive swell is fighting the wind for their progress. 

“You really think your, um, father is that angry?” Nico asks, quietly, but somehow Percy can still hear him. He’s about to respond when he feels the air around him charge. The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

“Nico- hold this!” He shouts through the wind, grabbing Nico’s hands without waiting for a response. The second he lets go of the tiller, it wrenches Nico’s arms over. Nico manages to get the boat under control, pale face stricken in the rain, and for a second their eye contact is illuminated in a white flash. Percy leaps to his feet and arcs one hand over his head.

The waterspout follows his fingers, cutting through the air above their heads just in time to intercept the lightening bolt headed straight for them. The water sizzles and bursts, drops joining the rain coming down on their heads. The world goes strangely silent after the crack of electricity, and Percy catches Nico’s look, bone-white and aghast. 

“Could’ve just been a normal storm,” Percy says calmly, wondering if his shoulders will get stuck next to his ears if he shrugs any more. Nico gives him the driest look he’s capable of in the pouring rain.

“It blew right by the mast, Percy. Right for us.” All the comfort Nico felt earlier that day, the wistful look on his face as he watched the coast of Maine stream by, has vanished. Looking at him is Percy watching his life tumble back into chaos, so he looks away, turning his eyes to the sky again. It’s black as pitch, and there’s a low rumble of thunder in the distance. Maybe getting closer, but it’s hard to say.

The boat jerks suddenly to starboard and Percy remembers.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, taking the tiller back from Nico. Nico groans and shakes out his arms.

“Really though, the lightning? Why would Zeu-“

“I don’t know,” Percy cuts him off, pulling the hood back over his eyes from where it had slipped, “This hasn’t happened before, I don’t know why it-“ 

More lightening flashes, just in the clouds above, but it’s enough to silence Percy and keep him looking forward, at the sky, at the compass needle… just not at Nico.

  

* * *

   

By the time Long Island Sound comes into view over the horizon, Percy is exhausted. Turns out, if you sail for 20 hours a day, and toss around in your bunk for 4, you can get from Maine to New York in just over 3 days. Since the storm, his interactions with Nico have been confusing at best. Nico insisted on spending almost all his time on deck since the lightening strike, though Percy didn’t know what his plan was if they encountered more trouble. Maybe shadow-travel the whole boat right to Montauk, who knows. Other than perching like a giant black bird on the bow, Nico’s been using the rest of his time to give Percy strange looks and be almost abnormally silent. At least, abnormally for how he’s been acting since he showed up on the dock in the first place. The expression on his face, half sad, half angry, is as indecipherable to Percy as everything else about him, so Percy just buckled down and focused on sailing to New York as fast as possible.

Then, the shoreline comes into view, and Percy remembers where he’s going. He wonders why he was in such a hurry. Suddenly, he’d like nothing more than to turn around. The jib starts to luff and Nico shoots him a sharp look from the bow. Percy corrects quickly, and though the boat is slowing almost of its own accord, the beach of Camp Half Blood approaches too quickly for Percy’s liking.

It looks almost exactly the same – except for the line of people stretched out over the sloping dunes behind the sand. A row of them, in orange t-shirts, standing on the crest of the grass, hands clasped with person next to them, raised over their heads like a wall. Percy looks at their faces as the boat pulls closer. No one looks familiar, except one girl, in the middle, at the highest point of the dune, caramel mane of curly hair pulled back to reveal coffee skin and –

Percy lets the sails loose, shouting to Nico.

“Lower the anchor, we’re stopping here.”

Nico turns from his seat on the bow, and nods, not bothering to argue. He quickly unhooks the anchor chain and uncleats the line, slowly lowering the anchor into the calm water. Percy notes absently than Nico’s gotten a lot better at this boat thing in the past few days.

Securing the sails and rinsing three plus days of salt crust off _Anaklusmos_ doesn’t take as long as Percy wants it to, even as he insists on completely drying every fixture and bit of canvas before calling it quits. Nico doesn’t complain, just waits patiently until the boat is immaculate and even Percy can’t think of anything else to keep him from going ashore. Finally, Nico sighs.

“You finished?”

Percy has half-nodded when he feels Nico slip cold fingers through his and the world of the boat is replaced with the green grass and sloping lawn of the field in front of the Big House. Percy’s hand falls suddenly to his knee, and his lungs are having a hard time getting enough air. He tilts his head to the side to see Nico looking down at him, his face almost concerned. They’re still holding hands. 

“No, it’s fine. I’m good,” Percy answers his unasked question quickly, standing up and extracting his hand. Nico doesn’t react, but Percy kind of regrets pulling away anyway. 

Nico doesn’t bother to knock, just strides up the steps of the Big House and flings the front door open. He seems even more agitated than normal, skipping the interior entirely and bursting out the back door onto the other side of the wrap-around porch. He comes to a stop next to a man in a wheel chair, legs concealed beneath a thick wool afghan – until it isn’t a wheelchair at all. It’s a massive tawny horse body, curled beneath the wiry, orange t-shirt wearing torso of a man on the downward side of middle-age.

“Chiron,” Nico speaks, announcing their arrival. Chiron turns, giving Nico a brief nod before setting his eyes on Percy.

“Percy Jackson. Welcome back.” 

A couple of niceties fly through Percy’s mind, but he's pretty sure he knows who was on the other end of that call Nico took, so he settles for a curt,

“Sir.”

Chiron’s changed from Percy’s memories of him. He looks… tired. The way his body is flickering between human and horse is pretty disconcerting, but it doesn’t completely distract from the fact that he’s obviously lost weight. There’s a lot more gray in his hair an Percy remembered. Mostly, though, it’s the lines in his eyes, around his face, the way his voice sounds. 

“Do you know why you’re here?” 

It’s colder. He’s colder.

“Not so much, sir, no.”

“As per instructions,” Nico interjects. He’s been standing steadfastly off to the side, arms crossed, and it’s making Percy wonder whose side he’s really on. 

“Well, you followed them. There’s a first time for everything I suppose.” 

The tension between them is uncomfortable. It rubs Percy the wrong way.

“Look, I’m here because Nico asked me to be. That’s enough for me, but more information wouldn’t go amiss.”

“Guess there’s a first time for that too,” another voice says, and Percy turns to see Jason Grace come around the corner, one arm firmly supporting Hazel Levesque. Percy starts at Hazel’s appearance as they come up the stairs. She’s half-way to falling down, drenched in sweat, but when she sees Percy, she still manages a broad smile, pushing away from Jason and flinging her arms around Percy. Percy finds himself returning the hug, partly to keep her from falling. 

“Percy! You’re here!”

“Heya, Hazel. Good to see you.”

She beams up at him, and Percy’s kind of glad to see some people haven’t gotten much taller. She turns away from him to Nico, and the two briefly touch foreheads as she whispers something to him before leaning into his side.

“Hazel, are you okay?” Percy asks, “And what are you even doing here, I thought you’d be at-“

“Hazel, is the perimeter secure?” 

Everyone glares at someone – Percy and Nico at Chiron, and Jason at Percy. Nico’s is the coldest, but Percy immediately wants to ask Jason what his deal is. Hazel just shuts her eyes and slumps further into Nico. 

“Yes, for now. I’m just going to grab a quick nap, I’ll be right back out there.”

Nico looks down at her sternly, “When your shift starts. Not before.” 

Hazel smiles sleepily, “Not before.”

Both Jason and Nico turn to Chiron like they’re expecting a challenge. Percy is about to demand that someone explain to him what’s going on when Chiron speaks, quite calmly for how many people are shooting him angry looks.

“Jason, Nico, if you could please accompany Ms. Levesque to her bunk. Mr. Jackson and I have much to discuss.”

Jason moves to help Hazel, and Nico easily lets her go. Now, all eyes (and raised eyebrows) are on Nico. Nico quickly catches Percy’s eye, and Percy isn’t sure what he finds there, but he feels a strange rush of relief when Nico says,

“All the same to you, sir, but I’ll stick around.”

Chiron looks very much like it’s not all the same to him, but Jason interjects,

“No problem, I’ll take Hazel. See you guys are the camp fire later.” He shoots a pointed look at Percy as he helps Hazel into the house.

“Swear that used to be optional,” Percy mumbles. Nico scoffs a laugh, and the look they share makes Percy feel more like himself. He turns to Chiron.

“Alright. You want to explain to me what I’m doing here, sir?” 

Chiron shoots him an interested look.

“Where did he turn up?” It’s clear the question is for Nico. Nico responds quietly, quickly.

“Small town, coastal Maine.”

“Doing what?” 

“Lying low,” Nico responds, after a moment of hesitation.

“So, it is possible you’ve missed the signs?”

“Oh,” Percy says with a bite, “Are we talking to me now?”

Chiron just raises his eyebrows.

“Nico told me there’s a problem with the Mist,” Percy concedes, “We took down some monsters in downtown Portland. A woman saw us.” 

“What did _you_ see, Percy?” Chiron leans forwards, hands resting on his useless knees for a second before his body flickers back into horse-mode. 

“Same old, same old,” Percy grumbles, “Insert sword into monster. The blood was new.”

“Well, it started over a year ago, so I wouldn’t saw ‘new’ exactly,” Chiron replies, “but yes, that’s the gist of it. The blood during fights was the first thing we noticed, as well. Kind of a disturbing departure from gold dust.”

Percy shrugs, “Bleeding is bleeding. So the gold we used to see was just due to the Mist? What happened to it?” 

Chiron frowns, face finally matching his tone, “We don’t know. It just starting… receding. Monster attacks started showing up in tabloids, but then some campers took down a group of rogue level ones and a mortal saw them and called the police. They disappeared before the officers showed up, but the damage was done. Now we hear about a ‘monster’ attack every few days on the news. It’s always broadcast as a dog or a bear, but there’s been a government task force assigned and they’re close to the truth. This is all besides the point-“

“Wait a minute,” Percy said, frowning, “How do you know what the task force is up to? Aren’t those things pretty covert?”

“We have people on the inside-“ 

“He mean campers, acting as spies,” Nico supplies.

Percy knows he and Chiron have disagreed in the past, but this, sending campers into a government task force to essentially commit treason, was a whole new ball game.

“Volunteers, mostly children of Apate. Your concern is several years too late, however.”

“Well, why bring me in now, then? If it’s been a year, you clearly though you could get on just fine without me, a position I whole-heartedly agree with, by the way-“

“Because the enemy – the _mortals_ ,” Chiron corrects quickly, “have discovered Camp Half Blood.”

Percy’s mouth snaps shut. He finds his hand clenching around Riptide in his pocket, an old habit from when most of his stress came from sword-related activities.

“They _found_ Camp?” 

“Walked right in, a whole school tour,” Chiron replies, scowling, “and what do you think they did? When they found a whole part of Montauk that isn’t on any maps, full of children fighting with swords and flying horses and _centaurs_?”

“We’re under nearly constant surveillance now, not that there’s anything to see. As soon as we realized the Mist had stopped veiling the camp, we set up the perimeter. Children of Hecate and Morpheus, but led by Hazel, actively bending the Mist to conceal our borders, putting mortals who get too close to sleep so they can be relocated. It won’t last forever, and as soon as this task force makes the connection between camp and the monster attacks, and finds out what we do here, and who we are…”

Nico has a weird expression on his face, but Percy’s attention snaps back to Chiron when Chiron doesn’t finish the sentence. After a long pause, Percy asks, 

“What does Reyna- I mean, Camp Jupiter, think about all this?” 

Nico scoffs behind him. Chiron glares.

“They’re not involved on this end.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Percy blurts out, “You haven’t told them?”

“They may have their own intelligence, but ours says the Mist on the West Coast is intact. I have not disclosed what we know. The camps cannot afford to be caught working together. We will only appear to be a bigger threat, and correspondingly the consequences can only become more severe.”

“Because there’s a ‘more severe’ level of consequences after discovery and obliteration,” Nico supplies coldly.

Chiron doesn’t acknowledge the comment, suddenly standing gracefully on four legs.

“There is a meeting, at 9:00 tomorrow. All cabin heads will attend, and we will discuss a response strategy. I expect you – both of you – to be there.”

“So, you called me down here for a meeting? Wouldn’t it be better just to leave Cabin #3 out of this?” Percy asks. 

“Mr. di Angelo and I have a strong difference of opinion on this issue. I suppose we will see who is right tomorrow morning.”

The look Nico and Chiron exchange has Percy wanting to back slowly off the porch and out of view. Chiron breaks the staring contest first and quickly descends the stairs onto the grass. The sun is getting low in the sky.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to inspect the security of the perimeter before dinner and the campfire begin. I trust I’ll see you both there. If not, 9:00AM.” He quickly rounds the side of the house and disappears.

“Nico?”

“Hmm?” Nico looks at him, and compared to the face he’d been making at Chiron, he’s practically smiling at Percy.

“Why do I get the feeling Chiron doesn’t want us to show up at dinner?”

Nico grins, “Probably because he doesn’t. Well, are you coming or not?”

“Where?” Percy frowns.

“Oh come on,” Nico’s grin turns devious, and after feeling like he’s swallowed a lead for an hour, the return of the drunken butterflies in Percy’s stomach is not entirely unwelcome, “Aren’t you hungry?”

 

* * *

  

Percy is beginning to regret this plan. True, Chiron’s glare at both of them when he and Nico showed up for dinner – late – was confirmation that they weren’t wanted, and usually, that in itself would be enough reason for Percy to sit there looking smug, but not today. Not when he has to sit at this big, empty stone table, in room full of people he doesn’t recognize, picking at food that suddenly tastes like cardboard.

It’s not entirely true, he does recognize a few people – Hazel’s at the director’s table, though because she’s one of Pluto’s or she’s not actually from this camp, Percy isn’t sure. She’s shoving food in her face like she hasn’t eaten in days, but she looks up at Percy every now and then and smiles. Percy’s glad she’s here, even if they’ve barely spoken. After seven years, turn-over has left the dining hall almost unrecognizable. His eyes flick right to the first table, but Jason is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t know why he bothers – it wasn’t like Jason had been particularly happy to see him earlier that afternoon. Other than that, it’s just a sea of faces, one indistinguishable from the next. It does look a little sparse, he has to admit. Maybe recruitment is down. Or, with all the campers Chiron’s got stashed in government facilities or protecting the border… but even that doesn’t account for so many empty seats. Last time he was here, it was full to bursting, albeit with demigods that were a little worse for wear. Some more so than others. 

“So, having fun yet?”

Percy tries not to flinch. 

“Can’t you just walk up and say hi, like a normal person?”

Nico laughs dryly, “I did. Not my fault you’re so distracted. What’re you looking at, anyway?”

“No one. I recognize no one. Except Hazel… and you. Hey, are you supposed to be sitting here?” 

“What do you think Chiron’s going to do? Make me come sit next to him like the old days? Unlikely.”

Percy snorts, “Yeah, I guess so. Wonder why he wanted us away from dinner so bad, anyway.”

Nico raises his eyebrows, “You’re kidding, right?”

“Um, no. What?”

“Sheesh, you’ve been scoping the place out all night, and you haven’t noticed?” 

Percy breaks eye contact with Nico to look around again. It’s embarrassingly obvious. Everyone else in the hall is staring at him in turns, then whispering to their cabin-mates, then staring at him some more.

“You might not know anyone here, but they sure recognize you. The Great Percy Jackson, prodigal son, returns at last.”

“Oh, shut up. If Chiron didn’t want me to come back, why’d he send you after me?”

“I made a fairly compelling argument. I’m sure he’s regretting it.” 

That sentence sparks so many questions, Percy can’t even pick one. He changes the subject. 

“Where’s Jason?” 

Nico shrugs, but his brow furrows, “Oh, who knows. I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually, with lots of personal questions.”

Percy frowns, shooting Nico a sidelong glance, “Wait, I thought… aren’t you guys friends?” 

Nico nods, “Yeah, but he was probably top of the list of people who were pretty unimpressed with my leave of absence.”

Percy feels like there’s a lot of competition for that spot, but he doesn’t point it out.

“Well, I can only imagine how pleased he must be with me, then.”

“It’s not that,” Nico mumbles, “I don’t think he’s pleased with anyone these days.”

“Yeah, I noticed him shooting daggers at Chiron this afternoon.”

“He’s about as pleased with Chiron as I am.”

“So why are you both so ‘yes, sir, no, sir, I’ll find out, sir’?”

Nico frowns down at his folded fingers, “I’d rather fight with him than against him. Jason and I figured, if camp was threatened… might be the best way to get you to come back. So here we are.”

Percy has no response to that. He hasn’t thought about Jason so much… not like he’s wondered about Annabeth, or Nico. Maybe he thought that, of all people, Jason would best understand. Still, looking around the unrecognizable camp, Percy realizes he has no idea what Jason, what any of his old friends, have been up to, besides maybe understanding Percy’s need to escape. They clearly haven’t all just been hanging around camp, to be here when he eventually decided to show up. Which, if he’s being completely honest, he hadn’t ever really intended to.

“Nico, do you know what happened to everyone else-?” but when Percy turns his eyes back from the middle distance to where Nico had been sitting, there’s no one there.

There’s nobody to expressly _make_ him go to the campfire, but somehow he ends up there anyway, sitting in the back. No one sits next to him, for which he’s grateful, and the other campers are mostly not noticing him, content for the moment to listen to stories and songs about past heroics, which are mercifully not ones Percy was directly involved in. 

That is until one of the older campers starts in on the story of reclaiming the Golden Fleece (thankfully, without the details about the impending treason of half of CHB and the war against the Titans). Percy realizes that he actually sort of recognizes this kid, not enough to remember his name, but child of Hephaestus rings a bell. The kid must’ve been a fair bit younger than ten during the events he’s recounting, and now other campers can’t resist craning their necks around to stare at Percy every time his name comes up. Percy is about to duck out the back when the kid gets to the part where he and Annabeth ( _just_ he and Annabeth) reach the cave, when someone slides onto the bench next to him.

“So, didn’t really expect to see you back here.”

Percy represses a shrug and makes himself look Jason in the eye. 

“Didn’t really expect to be back. Didn’t you know Nico was coming after me?”

Jason scoffs, “Who do you think convinced him to go? He wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to hunt you down. For some reason he didn’t think you’d be so happy to see him.”

Percy thinks there’s going to be a permanent divot between his eyes from all the frowning. Honestly, if you’d asked him thirteen days ago, he’d have said Nico showing up on his dock would’ve ended up in a lot of yelling and probably some minor injuries. Instead, Percy had been only too desperate to keep him close, and Nico probably had noticed. 

“So why’d he do it, then?” Percy asks, hanging on the answer.

Jason smiles, looking over at the fire, “I made a pretty compelling argument.”

Percy just scowls. Finally, he clears his throat and mumbles out, 

“Hey, so… how’ve you been?”

Jason gives him a wry look, “We don’t have to do this, you know.”

Percy nods, “Yeah, I know, I know, just… I didn’t exactly keep in touch, did I? I think part of me expected you all to just, be here. At camp. I can’t imagine anything else.”

“I get that, but no, we didn’t stay at summer camp forever. Nobody went too far, though. Think we were all too surprised to make it to adulthood to really leave. It’s not like anyone was planning for this.”

Percy hangs his head a little. Jason continues,

“Hazel and Frank were in New Rome and Piper was pushing Chiron to get some Greek-equivalent going for CHB, until this whole mess started. At least some kind of advising beyond ‘congratulations, you lived through your teenage years, now we don’t know what to do with you’.” 

Percy chuckles, then asks as an afterthought,

“Oh, so you and Piper…?”

Jason shakes his head a little, still smiling.

“It’s complicated. She’s coming to the meeting tomorrow. All the non-Big-Three-ers eventually got replaced as heads of cabins, but this, it’s bigger than camp. Anyway, she’ll be happy to see you. Leo, too.”

Percy grumbles, “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

Jason just smiles, shrugging, “Well, I am, anyway.”

“Your face this afternoon said otherwise.”

Jason’s smile hardens a little, “Well, yeah. That’s different. Guess I couldn’t believe you actually followed Nico down here. Didn’t know he could just say ‘jump’…”

Percy blushes. It’s awkward talking to Jason about this. “Look, I… I’m just trying to do what’s right. I never meant to hurt him, before-“

“Percy, listen,” Jason cuts him off, looking amused, and just like that he falls into the easy command that always weighed so awkwardly on Percy’s shoulders, “the person who’s best at hurting Nico, is Nico. Kind of hard to blame you for any of that, even if I may have been sorely tempted to at some point or another.”

“Yeah well,” Percy replies, looking away, trying not to think about the various brands of Jason’s disappointed face he’d suffered over the years, “At least there’s not much risk of that anymore. He’s made his opinions on my choices pretty clear… or at least, as clear as he ever is.”

Jason shakes his head, “Yeah, some things don’t change.”

“What’dyou mean?”

“You’re both still complete idiots.”

Percy will gladly trade in his dignity for having one person around camp that he doesn’t have to be on thin ice around. For the past twelve days with Nico, every comment was weighed down with years of history and hidden meanings and tension. Percy realizes he missed Jason more than he thought, and he’s glad the hint of competition that used to be so obvious between them seems to have vanished with age and left a chance for an easy friendship, probably with lots of ribbing.

“Yeah well, sounds like we’re not the only ones. ‘It’s complicated’? Really?”

Jason groans, “I know, I know. It just is!”

“She always was way too cool for you,” Percy laughs.

Jason nods and sighs, “Yeah, don’t I know it.”

 

* * *

 

Not being able to sleep has always aggravated Percy. He’s already spent more of his life being completely exhausted than any 25 year old who never went to college had a right to. Hell, he’d sailed to a place he had mixed feelings about going in record time, only to be immediately thrown into an afternoon of non-stop awkward conversations and frustration, which was pretty much more tiring than any of the battles he’d ever fought, now to have to toss and turn in his bunk. At least, he thinks irritably to himself as he roll/flails to his other side of the bed for the 15th time in as many minutes, he’s safely on his boat, and not facing down the uncomfortable familiarity of Cabin #3.

Not for a million drachma was he sleeping in there, but right now this isn’t really better. To top it all off, after days of being periodically startled by Nico’s pseudo-welcome presence on his sailboat, it might actually rub Percy the wrong way suddenly _not_ having him lurking about, and that is just completely unacceptable.

He’d just about given up on sleep as a concept until, miraculously, his eyes drift shut and he drifts off. He is, mercifully, blissfully asleep for what has to be less than an hour before the dreams start. Then, the nightmares. Then, Percy’s screaming because his whole world is the terrible blackness of that rift in Alaska, vision filled with images of Nico reaching his hand out to grasp Percy’s and offering a choice to stay above or to fall with him, and Percy is letting go of his hand, letting go letting go _letting go_ -

“Fuck!” He bolts straight upwards in his berth, only to see an overhead beam come rushing into view. He shuts his eyes for the impact before he tries to stop his body, but suddenly strong hands grip his shoulders, holding him steady and saving his head from the collision.

“What the- Nico?” 

“Um, hi,” Nico whispers. He sounds a little sheepish.

“What… what’re you doing here?” Percy mumbles. His brain is half awake, half back in that dream, where Nico’s face just disappeared into the blackness. Somehow it’s hard to reconcile it reappearing in the darkened cabin.

“Checking in. Bad dream?” he asks casually, the “do you want to talk about it” strongly implied and suddenly Percy’s running his mouth.

“Um, yeah, I… sorry, just give me a second. I just dropped you… into the, uh… I _let go_ …”

Nico’s brow creases, “What do you mean, you ‘let go’…? Of me… oh. You let go.” 

Percy’s brain kicks into gear right as Nico falls silent and slowly removes his hands from Percy’s shoulders. Percy can feel the burning handprints though, and he quickly decides no one should be allowed to ask him questions when he’s just woken up. Shit. _Shit_.

“Sorry, just, forget it. Thanks for, uh… stopping me from concussing myself, I guess." 

“Yeah, no problem.”

As far as silences go, this one is pretty dense. Nico tucks his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around them, a much harder feat since he’s gotten so much taller, and even though all he can do is stare at Nico’s socks, all Percy can think about is how they’re in the same bed. He can’t tell if he’s blushing because of the proximity or because of the proximity coupled with the fact that he’s not wearing a shirt.

“Do you, uh, have that dream a lot?” Nico finally asks, quietly. Percy sighs, and his breath shakes a little on the way out. He feels himself shrug for about the hundredth time that day.

“Now and again. It’s part of a rotation that sort of comes in waves.”

Nico nods, and Percy’s eyes finally adjust enough to the dark to see his eyes staring back at him. Suddenly, Percy feels a firm hand on his shoulder.

“You know, that’s not how it happened, right?”

Percy nods, but it’s empty, because his arm reaches out, over Nico’s. He thinks he was trying to return the gesture, camaraderie in demigod nightmare club, but it ends up being more about checking to make sure Nico is real. His fingers find the back of Nico’s neck, through surprisingly soft hair that still has a hint of salt from the sail down. Nico’s eyes narrow slightly, but the doesn’t pull away and the sharp intake of breath is just audible over the sound of water lapping at the hull of the boat. 

Nico’s arm quickly drops, and Percy lets his fingers press for just a second before he pulls his hand away. He laughs nervously, and his next words are out of his mouth before he consciously decides to ask.

“Will you stay? Got kind of used to having you around.”

Nico chuckles nervously, “Yeah, who else is going to get in your way when you try to do all your boat stuff?”

“Exactly. I’m lost without you.”

Nico makes a weird noise and coughs over it, “Okay then. Do you want some, uh, help falling asleep?” 

Since his sudden return to Percy’s life, Percy hasn’t heard Nico sound nervous too often. He kind of likes it. It makes him feel like he’s not the only one with a stomach full of drunk butterflies all the time. 

“Yeah, I – wait. What’re you going to do? It’s not permanent is it?”

Nico snorts, which is not cute at all and absolutely should not rile up the butterflies, “No. It might not even work, but every once in a while I can call in a favor. Lie down.”

Percy lies back, resisting the urge to cross his arms over his chest. Nico twists slightly and Percy feels cool fingers on the sides of his face. His eyes slip shut involuntarily – no way he’s trying to maintain eye contact for this. 

“Just, try to relax.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try better.” 

Percy smiles, but he takes a deep breath anyway. The dark behind his eyelids is a lot like the dark from his dream – a little too deep, a little menacing. Nico’s fingers twitch and Percy focuses on the slight tremor of the palms against his temples.

“Okay,” Nico whispers, “Think happy thoughts.”

“Sheep?”

“Really? I say ‘happy’ and you go with sheep? That explains a lot.”

Percy grins, eyes still closed, and thinks about sailing instead. Nice days on the water, familiar harbors and rivers and coves. That one sunny day out with Nico, before everything got weird… or weirder. The sun on Nico’s face, how it changed his whole appearance. How the coolness of Nico’s fingertips is actually kind of nice, callouses and all, on hands that used to push him away or save his life, never actually touch… 

Sleep comes quickly.

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

When Percy wakes up the next morning, the sun is just coming up and Nico is gone. This isn’t particularly surprising, and considering that Percy’s feeling groggy and disoriented after a full night’s sleep, it’s probably for the best that there aren’t any witnesses to whatever half-awake embarrassment he subjects himself to this time.

He takes his time getting up, electing to draw down his stash of granola bars instead of braving camp for breakfast. He also finishes up cleaning _Anaklusmos_ – more for something to occupy his thoughts than because the boat really needs it. It’s one of his favorite things about her – she’s always there to take his mind off reality with her endless need for scrubbing. Like therapy through boat maintenance. He re-oils all the teak and scrubs the salt buildup from even the tiniest of the steel fixtures, completely losing track of time until movement on the shoreline catches his eye. The line of campers – holding up the Mist – is static, but the tall, blonde figure standing in the sand is unmistakably here to collect him.

After quickly packing up his supplies, Percy leaps from the stern of the boat and dives into the cool water. He could’ve just walked over it, he supposes as he jets under the waves towards the shore, but he prefers to swim and walking on water would probably invite some teasing from Jason. Instead all Percy gets is a smirk as he steps onto the stand, completely dry.

“Meeting time?” he asks. Jason nods. 

“Yep. Ready to resume your camp counselor duties?”

“Nope. Let’s go.”

Turns out, they’re early. The ping pong table is all set up, but no one is sitting at it. Instead, Nico is alone, leaning against the shingled side of the house, looking angry. Jason braves it as they come up the steps. 

“Hey Nico. You’re looking cheery this morning.”

Nico shakes his head, “Oh yeah. Thought I’d get the fighting started early, you know, since I was up.” 

Percy frowns, “With Chiron? What about?”

Nico says “nothing” at exactly the same time Jason says “you”. Percy suspects the look Nico is now shooting at Jason has probably killed weaker men, but Jason is happily immune, and shoots Percy an amused grin.

“Oh please, it almost always is.” 

He bravely claps Nico on the shoulder as he goes inside the house. Nico stares resolutely at the porch boards.

“Um, right,” Percy clears his throat, “moving on?”

Nico smiles a little at Percy’s lame attempts to reduce the awkwardness, so it’s worth it.

“How’d you sleep?”

Percy is about to respond when it hits him. There’s something funny about not remembering a dream until after you’ve been awake for a few hours that makes it seem like it wasn’t a dream at all, but a memory. In this case a memory of Nico. Not of him falling (or Percy dropping him) into that rift in Alaska. A decidedly less painful memory, or maybe just painfully awkward, with a lot more touching. A vision of a lot of skin he’s never seen flashes through Percy’s mind, but this really isn’t the time.

“Fine. I slept fine… good. Thanks for, uh, whatever you did.”

Nico shrugs, either not noticing or ignoring the sudden blush on Percy’s face. 

“I didn’t do much. Like I said, just calling in a favor.”

Percy wants to know what that means, but not as much as he wants to get off the subject of how he slept last night.

“Did you get any sleep at all?” 

“As much as I needed.”

“So, what, like an hour?”

Nico just grins. Chiron chooses this moment to come through the screen door. He’s clearly decided to take additional steps for camouflage today, because he’s firmly in his wheelchair and Hazel is standing right behind him. 

Nico’s grin falls immediately. 

“She’s not your personal magician, Chiron.” 

Hazel opens her mouth to speak but Chiron speaks over her.

“We are under constant and imminent threat of exposure, and about to gather all the counselors, present and past, for a meeting that will undoubtedly get heated very quickly, and you want to disparage my need for secrecy, Mr. di Angelo?”

“No, just your insistence on living in constant denial, sir.”

It’s clear whatever they argued about earlier is about to pick right back up again, but Hazel intervenes. 

“Nico, it’s fine. I’m happy to help.”

Nico just glares past her, but Percy can’t help but notice Hazel looks pretty tired. He tries to shoot her a supportive smile, and she grins doggedly back at him before collapsing into one of the chairs pushed up against the house away from the table. Chiron moves to sit at the head, and suddenly Percy realizes what’s missing. 

“Where’s Mr. D?” 

Nico scoffs, and Chiron glares at him before answering, 

“Back on Olympus. Trying to keep Zeus from blasting this whole camp off the map to avoid discovery. Or at least, that’s what he’s supposed to be doing.”

Percy can’t remember ever hearing Chiron sound so disparaging towards Mr. D (or Zeus for that matter), and it makes him feel a sudden rush of empathy towards his former mentor. It sits uncomfortably in his stomach, especially since it’s clear forgiveness is not the order of business for the day. 

More campers start to arrive, and Percy fidgets in his seat at the ping-pong table. He doesn’t recognize any of these people – _children_ \- though he wonders if any of them were around in his last years here. Jason looks reasonably comfortable, a seat down from Percy, smiling and greeting a few of the new arrivals. Nico looms against the wall of the house, like a giant, scowling bird, showing no inclination to sit down. No one suggests it, though Percy kind of wants him to take one of the adjacent chairs. The Demeter counselor, a boy who looks about 15, sits in the 4th chair, takes one look at Percy, and scoots his chair away by about a foot. This makes him bump the Ares counselor in the shins, and they seem to have kept up the tradition of nominating terrifying women to be the counselor of Cabin #5, because this girl gives the Demeter kid a look that has him quaking down to his earth-stained sneakers.

It’d all be hilarious if Percy wasn’t acutely aware of the large perimeter being given to him on all sides. He tries to avoid eye contact, but there are so many people there that it’s nearly impossible. Campers have even started lining up against the porch railing, standing at attention.

“Alright, alright, everyone who can sit down, sit down, we need to get started,” Chiron says coolly as seats are taken. Chatter dies almost immediately, and Chiron continues, “Now that everyone is here-“

The rev of an engine sounds from the lawn. Everyone looks away from Chiron and out over the lawn to see a massive, black truck appear over the crest of the hill, tearing up the dirt road that cuts across the main field. A short power slide brings the truck to a quick stop in front of the Big House, and as soon as the engine is cut, two people leap from the high doors.

“Hold up, hold up, no one is starting without us,” Leo Valdez shouts as he clicks the auto-lock button over his shoulder. As he approaches, Piper McLean falls in step with him, slinging one arm over his shoulder. She beams at the assembled campers, and Percy swears every single one is smiling back at her. Even Chiron – for about a second. 

“Yes, welcome, _former_ camp counselors Leo and Piper. I did mention you could probably sit this one out.”

“Yeah, but funnily enough, we were in the neighborhood. Thought we’d stop by,” Leo says, grinning, as he and Piper slide into the seats against the house next to Hazel. Percy is hyper aware of their presence behind him, but he doesn’t dare turn around and look. Suddenly, he hears Leo right next to his head. 

“Hiiii Peerrrrcy.”

Percy snorts a laugh, which gets them all a stern glare from Chiron.

“If you’re ready.”

Percy is still trying not to laugh, and failing, as he nods. Chiron turns back to the table, steadfastly ignoring Percy and everyone sitting behind him.

“This meeting is to assess the current situation regarding the failure of the Mist. If we could begin with an update from the Apate group –“

“Actually,” Jason interjects smoothly, “if we could begin by welcoming back the reigning counselor of Cabin #3, Percy Jackson.” 

Everyone turns to look at Percy. They’d all taken quick glances at him on arrival, but now Percy is faced with about 20 sets of unyielding eyes. He reaches over and gives Jason a “friendly” punch on the shoulder that just might’ve been a little too hard.

“ _Thanks,_ Jason.”

“Quite,” Chiron glares, not looking at either of them, “Moving on. Katherine?”

A tall, blonde girl steps forward from the line of campers leaning against the porch railing. Percy absently admires her stony expression. He wishes he could pull off that poker face.

“Our representative remains undercover in the specialist group investigating the recent monster attacks. This month’s reports suggest that they are investigating a more recent attack in Pennsylvania by what has been identified as a minor gorgon-“ 

Percy blurts out, “A _minor_ gorgon?” at the same time Chiron interrupts, “They’ve identified the monster?”

Katherine shoots a confused look at Percy but responds to Chiron’s question.

“They have an informant. Our representative hasn’t been able to determine who this ‘concerned citizen’ is, but apparently an anonymous envelope was received early this week containing photos of the attack that occurred 10 miles outside Hershey. It remains to be seen if any of the committee members believe the eye witness accounts of a group of young children fighting off a mythical beast in rural Pennsylvania, however.”

Chiron nods, “It is imperative that our informant remain undercover until the task force is dissolved and the findings discredited.” 

Katherine nods, but looks a little dejected, “With this information, Henri- our representative expressed the desire to return to camp. I’ve passed your wishes, _orders_ , along, sir.”

Percy frowns, “What happened to the young demigods who faced the gorgon?”

An awkward silence falls over the table. Instead of everyone staring at him, Percy realizes now no one will even look in his direction. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy sees Nico lower his head. One hand is nervously tapping against the hilt of his sword, which Percy hadn’t noticed until now, concealed underneath a long, black jacket.

Chiron clears his throat, “They were detailed in the local police station. When no parents or guardians were procured, and considering the eye witness accounts, they were then transferred to a medical facility in upstate New York for children.” 

Percy folds his arms to hide the slide twitch in his fingers.

“What kind of medical facility?”

“A psychiatric hospital for disturbed youths,” Nico interjects from the corner. Chiron’s face flushes. He looks like he’d like nothing more than to put an arrow through Nico’s forehead on the spot.

“We don’t know that, Nico,” Jason says quietly. The rest of the table is watching the exchange in silence.

“Yes we do. I’ve been there,” Nico responds flatly, addressing Jason and ignoring Chiron entirely, even though both men’s faces fall at his announcement, “I move to form an away team which will escort these demigods to camp immediately.”

“Motion denied,” Chiron says immediately, “Until our borders are secure there will be no passage of new recruits to or from camp. Moving on.” 

Percy wants to argue, but more than that, he wants someone else to argue. It makes sense now, the thinner number of campers around the grounds, the low campfire, everyone’s attitudes. It’s more than the Mist, Percy realizes, and it’s clear as day that they’ve had this conversation before. Percy’s only been here for a day, shouldn’t someone else be as outraged by this? Why aren’t they fighting harder?

“Hang on a second-“ he starts, but he catches Jason’s eye. Jason has a wry grin on his face, like he’s expecting Percy to argue. Percy can feel Nico’s eyes on the back of his neck. The rest of the table is deliberately not looking at him as Chiron ignores the interruption.

“Moving on. Any news from the Oracle?”

Percy cranes his neck, looking for the familiar shock of red hair he couldn’t possibly have missed coming in, but all there is to see is the counselor in the 7th chair shaking his head. He’s a tall, thin young man, and Percy privately thinks he looks kind of scrawny for the typical Apollo camper. 

“We contact her daily, sir. Same response – she says to let her know when something changes.”

Chiron’s eyes flick in Percy’s direction, almost too briefly to be noticed.

“And did you inform her of recent changes, Micah?”

Micah nods, “This morning. We haven’t heard back.”

A voice comes from behind him, like the ring of light, clear bells. 

“We could always pay Rachel a visit, Chiron. It’s right on our way.”

Percy is about to enthusiastically agree when he sees Chiron blink rapidly and give his head a small shake. Jason is shaking with silent laughter besides him.

“Thank you, Piper. I will let you know if that becomes necessary,” Chiron finally says, sounding strained. 

“You do that, sir.” 

Leo is sniggering too. It’s very hard to focus.

“Unless anyone else has any comments-“ 

“Hang on,” Percy interrupts, “I want to know about the missing demigods. You cannot seriously plan to leave them imprisoned-“

Chiron glares at him, “They are not imprisoned. They are in a medical facility, and until we have reasonable suspicion that their well-being is in danger, we have more important-“

“More important things?!” Percy speaks over him. He can feel his temper rising, like the floor is rumbling under his feet, “What is more important than this? Isn’t that the whole point of this camp? To be a place for young demigods where they aren’t under constant threat of death via monster?”

“And what about the people already inside these borders, Jackson?” Chiron speaks evenly, “What about our duty to them? The purpose of this camp is to protect the secret of our existence.” 

“Who fucking cares about that?!” Percy shouts, “So mortals know about monsters, maybe they can take over and fight them! Maybe this camp can be something other than a training ground for your next set of mercenary teenagers, maybe demigods can be something besides Olympus’s army!”

The sky rumbles, but all eyes are fixed on the exchange and no one even looks up. Maybe that makes the rumble even louder as Chiron shouts over it,

“Are you really so naive? To think that the threat of exposure stops at monsters? You may have walked out, but the rest of us have not buried our heads so far in the sand. I have a duty to this camp to protect those within its borders-“

“But you don’t, do you?” Percy hears himself yell, like he’s outside his own body, watching the words come out, “You don’t protect us! We protect you, and where the fuck has that gotten us? Half of us are dead, the other half are sitting in the same Gods-damned spot for our whole lives, waiting for our turn to kill or die, no past and sure as hell no fucking future.”

Percy jumps from his seat and is halfway off the porch before he even registers the powerful silence that’s fallen over the table. He doesn’t look at Nico, or Jason, or anyone before he storms across the lawn. The frustration is full to bursting, giving him tunnel vision, and he doesn’t even realize he’s moving towards Cabin #3 until he’s outside the door. Maybe it was a reflex, running off to the one place on the camp grounds where no one could bother him. Maybe he thought they’d catch up with him before he got to his boat.

The inside of the cabin smells musty and stale, but there’s no dust to be seen. Someone had clearly been cleaning the cabin, but was careful enough to make sure nothing looked touched or disturbed. The drawers of the dresser are still open and ajar from where Percy’d hastily removed his few belongings on his way out. All the sheets were stripped off the beds, but a few dusty knickknacks that hadn’t made the trip remained on the windowsills. Bits of tape remain stuck to the walls next to his old bed where he used to have pictures and notes stuck. One picture is still there, faded in the sun, of two young men, both in orange t shirts, one with a single eye in the center of his forehead- 

“So, that could’ve gone better.”

Percy whirls around to see Nico leaning in the doorway, looking anything but amused.

“Sorry, I just had to get out of there. I couldn’t sit there anymore and listen to the… just, I can’t. I can’t.” 

Percy sits heavily on his old bunk, staring at the broken fountain at the back wall of the room. He feels Nico sit next to him, feels the mattress depress and the heat of a body right next to his, touching arm to leg.

“I know. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I ever-“ 

“Percy Jackson!” a loud clatter cuts Nico off, and both men look towards the door where Leo is spilling in, followed by a calmer Piper and stoic Jason, “knows how to make an exit!”

Percy frowns, “What do you mean? I just stormed off.”

Piper grins at him, and he immediately feels the knot in his stomach loosen infinitesimally 

“Yeah, and then the pipes burst and the house started flooding.”

Percy sighs, annoyed with his unintentional theatrics, but Jason is actually smiling so maybe a little theatrics were called for. Still, never would’ve happened seven years ago. He’s out of practice.

“They’ll be cleaning that up all day. Gives us just enough time,” Leo says excitedly.

“Time for what?” Percy asks. 

“Um, the plan, dude. You do have a plan?”

Maybe it’s Piper’s calming influence, but with a deep breath, Percy feels a few pieces slide into place in his head. Feels the part of his brain that once made him a leader shudder to life. He finds himself leaning just a little bit into Nico before standing and putting his hands in his pockets. His right immediately finds Riptide and loosens the cap a little.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork for this chapter: http://grell-e.deviantart.com/art/PJO-Riptide-3-477012612

They leave camp just as dusk begins to fall. Leo turns out to be right – cleaning up the mess at the Big House is a camp-wide effort, though Percy is chagrinned to know what he could fix with a flick of his wrist is making 20 campers late for dinner. Still, it’s the diversion they need to get the truck out to the main road without Chiron noticing.

The massive truck that is apparently now an even bigger SUV with more than enough seats for Jason, Piper, Leo, Nico, and Percy to ride with room to spare. Leo had dialed in a complicated serious of commands on a pop-out console that definitely isn’t GM standard issue, and waved off the dumfounded look on Percy’s face. 

“I even get deals on parts from the garage where I work. Piece of cake. And it’s a hybrid- well, I say ‘hybrid’…”

Hazel catches them mid-departure on her way out to the camp line, but declines Leo’s invitation to join. She does a neat trick of bending the Mist around them on their way out though. Percy wonders how much trouble she’d be in if Chiron found out, but she doesn’t bothered and he’s too nervous to ask. Chiron made a fair point before, anyway – it’s a little late for Percy to start being concerned.

Jason makes the “after you” gesture to let Percy in first, so Percy plays it safe and retreats to the way back left, immediately sliding his knees up on the seat in front of him and sinking almost out of view. Not far enough down, though, that he doesn’t have a good view of Jason and Nico having some kind of intense staring-match/silent argument outside the passenger door. Nico finally shoots Jason a contradictory smirk and climbs in, just to flop down dramatically on the bench seat next to Percy. Percy is too busy staring at Nico to acknowledge Jason’s laughter in the distance. Nico just shrugs and says,

“Well, I’d sit up front, but Golden Boy gets carsick.” 

Percy is 99% sure that’s a lie, but he doesn’t have a retort. Piper’s riding shotgun, and Jason is still laughing as he falls into the seat behind the driver, even though he apparently financed the majority of the vehicle (“Well, I say ‘majority’…” says Leo). With Leo behind the wheel, the 6+ hour trip to upstate New York might take a fair bit less. Cars seem to be moving out of the way as they approach. Still, the minutes crawl by as they escape Long Island and break free on the open highway just as night truly sets in, and Percy is all too aware of the entire row of empty space separating him and Nico from the rest of the car.

“So, this plan…” Nico finally speaks, quietly, not quite a whisper but certainly low enough to tell Percy he wants this conversation just between the two of them.

“Yeah. It’s not my best work-“

“No, it’s good,” Nico cuts him off, before relenting, “and you can’t help it if you’re a little rusty.” 

Percy looks up to argue, even if he agrees, but Nico is smiling at him across the darkened car so maybe it was meant in jest. He smiles back. 

“Well, thanks for going along with it, anyway.”

There’s a long pause, with just the road noise and Piper laughing softly at something Jason said in the background. Nico takes his time responding, looking down at his twisting hands, drawing Percy’s eye to them. Orange streetlamps are illuminating Nico’s face in half a second bursts, and Percy is kind of fascinated with the flash of his eyes in the low light. Eyes that flick to the side as Nico speaks, 

“It’s what’s been missing. I’ve been… above ground for two years, but I still don’t spend much time at camp. Jason is only back full time because of this latest crisis. Chiron needs someone at camp to step up. Jason won’t defy him without support, not outwardly, and he’s trying to fill a role that just isn’t him anymore. And I… I can’t. Camp never held anything for me, except when…”

Nico takes a deep breath, and Percy realizes he’s been holding his own. He tries to exhale without letting on, and Nico seems too busy steeling himself for what he’s about to say to notice.

“Except when you were there. You were the hero we needed, who cared enough about the camp and the people to put yourself aside. I could almost feel it, that commitment, when you were there to show me. Now, I don’t know. I see what putting yourself aside did to you, and now I’ve dragged you back in and…” 

Nico finally looks up and meets Percy’s eyes, “And I’m sorry for that. You finally got your hard-earned peace of mind and I took it. It’s selfish, and I can see what it’s doing to you, and I’m sorry.”

Percy tries to swallow his speechlessness, and it’s like a throat-full of gravel.

“It’s… that’s not… I didn’t get anything, for leaving. I thought… I didn’t like who was becoming, the ruthlessness. Stuff I did, during the war, I didn’t even hesitate, because the ends justified the means, but afterwards, when it was over and all of it, the wins and losses, were on my hands…” 

Nico shakes his head, “You _saved_ us all-“

Percy shrugs, “Maybe. Not all of you. Not everyone. But I thought that I was losing myself to do it. I could feel it eating away, so I ran, and now…”

He runs his hands through his hair and lets them fall to his sides, staring at the roof of the car.

“I think I had it backwards. I think that’s what I am, and not liking it isn’t going to change anything. It just makes it worse, running away, it just hurts people I should be trying to protect. That’s not your fault, Nico. For what it’s worth, I… I’m glad you wanted me back.” 

Cool fingers slide over Percy’s own on the seat. Percy’s head snaps right to look at Nico, whose expression cuts him to the quick. Nico flinches, and starts to pull his hand away, but Percy intertwines his fingers and locks them gently. It’s an old muscle memory, the tightening of his hand around someone else’s after so long, but he doesn’t let go.

“Don’t, please.”

He feels Nico’s fingers tremble in his, but when Percy loosens his grip a little Nico doesn’t pull his hand away. His fingers are thin and cool, but Percy feels warmth radiating up his whole arm, tightening in his chest. It’s uncomfortable, but at the same time Percy feels blissfully high off the contact. His eyes go back to dissecting the microfibers of the ceiling upholstery, but his mind is whirring around the callouses on Nico’s fingers and the soft skin between them.

They sit that way for a long time.

  

* * *

 

“Alright, team, we have arrived! WJD Center for Affected Youths, shores of Lake Pleasant, irony notwithstanding.”

Waking up is the only indicator that Percy had dozed off. He feels his body uncurl from its hunched position in the corner of the car, bones and muscles creaking to life, and realizes the last thing he remembers is holding Nico’s hand. His hands are both empty now, and it kind of makes Percy wonder if Nico put him to sleep again to get out of the physical contact before someone saw it. He turns his head to see Nico looking at him, unreadable expression on his face, snapping his head away as soon as he sees Percy returning his stare. Percy has to fight the dopey smile from creeping onto his face. Best to focus on the plan instead of wondering about how long Nico had been looking at him and the hand-holding and whether or not there might be more of it later on.

Percy leans up to look at the dashboard clock. It’s just before 1:00AM.

“Leo, that isn’t possible.” 

Leo chuckles as he pulls the car off the road and into the soft shoulder.

“Hey, I have my uses, and right now they are almost exclusively tied to this vehicle. Unless you want me to burn the building down, and I don’t think we’re quite at that stage yet, do you? This is where you take over, Mr. Jackson.”

Percy shoots Leo a warning look. Leo just grins back, so Percy makes a point of ignoring him.

“Nico and Jason, with me. Piper, come with us to the front gate and keep an eye on the security system?” 

“You got it, boys,” Piper says, twisting in her seat and extending her hand. Percy eyes the small black earpiece deposited into his palm, “Here are your communicators. Touch once and talk, touch again to end transmission.” 

Walking right up to the front gate hadn’t exactly been part of Percy’s plan, but Piper just tells them to follow her and winks. She leads them right to the guardhouse, where a confused looking middle-aged man is sliding the window open. Piper saunters right up to him, giving the rest of them no choice but to follow her, Percy suddenly feeling more than a bit light-headed.

“Evening, folks,” the guard says politely, and Percy almost feels sorry for the dazed expression on his face, “Little late for a visit, isn’t it, miss?”

Piper flicks her hair over her shoulder and leans on the windowsill.

“Definitely too late for a visit. This time of night, don’t you just want to curl up on a nice, comfy desk and sleep until morning?”

“Surely do, miss.”

The guard puts his head on his desk and doesn’t move again. Percy wouldn’t be able to believe it, except he’s suddenly feeling a little groggy himself.

“You’re kidding.”

Piper just smiles and lets herself into the booth, edging around the man and sitting on the desk to his left. She slips the strap for the night vision binoculars over her head and gestures to the gate. 

“Your turn Nico. I wouldn’t risk opening it, it’ll go in the log.”

Nico nods, and looks from Percy to Jason.

“Records room, that should tell us what floor to go to.”

Percy is still nodding when Nico’s hand grips his arm and his vision goes back.

The hallway they end up in is dark and empty, which is a relief. Nico had scoped out the facility a few months back, apparently, right after they found out what had happened to the young demigods who’d been caught. It had minimal perimeter security, probably since no one expected a break- _in_ at a youth mental hospital in upstate New York. A break out, maybe, but people weren’t exactly climbing the walls to get into these sorts of places. 

“Shit.”

Nico’s voice sounds dejected besides him, and Percy instantly turns.

“What is it?”

Nico is leaning against the wall, but he points to the door they’re standing in front of, and the placard next to it. _Administration_.

“I missed. Sorry, it’s, I… I haven’t tried with two passengers in a while-“

“Hey, it’s okay,” Percy says, hand on Nico’s arm. Nico flinches, “You got us inside. That’s enough.”

Jason rolls his eyes but Nico looks a little less sullen he moves around them to survey the door. The building is old, and this office at least has a regular doorknob lock. Nico fishes two bobby pins out of his jeans.

“Need to fix your hair?” Jason whispers, amused.

“What can I say, it makes me feel pretty.”

Nico starts working on the lock, and Percy is a little shocked at how quickly the clink of aligning tumblers sounds in the empty hall, followed by the scrape of a heavy door sliding open.

“Someone’s been practicing.”

Nico smirks at Percy, and Percy feels his stomach flip. 

“People don’t usually unlock their doors for the undertaker.”

The three of them make quick work of the office, finding the cabinet holding the hard copy backup of the room manifest. Jason flips through the pages. 

“Alright, here, looks like there were three kids checked in about seven months ago. No parents or guardians, dropped off by the chief of police, and – oh, this is interesting – two DHS agents.”

“Department of Human Services?” Percy asks. Jason shakes his head.

“Department of Homeland Security.” 

There’s a long pause. Percy breaks it.

“What floor? Which rooms?”

Jason’s eyes flick down.

“Floor 1A, Rooms 6, 17, and 24. Let’s go.”

Percy and Jason immediately head for the door. Percy turns back when Nico doesn’t follow them through the doorway.

“Nico?”

Nico shakes his head, “You go on, I’m not quite done here.”

Percy stares at him in disbelief, “What are you talking about? We need your help, come on!” 

But Nico is quicker, striding over and shutting the door between them. Percy grabs for the handle but it’s clicked locked already.

“Nico, what the hell-“

Jason grabs his arm, “Hey, there’s nothing for it. We need to move.”

Percy doesn’t want to move. He doesn’t want to leave Nico behind, and he really doesn’t want Nico to bail on this mission, but Jason is right. He turns and they jog quickly down the hallway to the stairwell.

“Hey, Jason – floor 1A. Reckon that’s basement level?” 

Jason grimaces but nods.

“And what are the chances there’s no night guard?”

Percy touches his earpiece.

“Piper, come in. Any info on the security on floor 1A in that guard’s booth?”

The brief static is cut by, “Heya Perce. There’s an Orderly Jefferson clocked in for that level. Think you might have company.”

“Does Leo have a floor plan? Where’s this Jefferson going to be sitting?”

“Hang on, I’ll find out.”

They’re halfway down the stares when Piper gets back to them. 

“Rooms are numbered counter-clockwise, and the one just to the left of the doors is a little smaller and doesn’t have the set up for plumbing. Seems like the most likely option.”

Jason checks in, “Is there any way we’re getting out that door without being seen?”

“Doesn’t look like it. You’ll have to get the guard out of there somehow.” 

The doors to floor 1A are swinging oak, and Percy can see the dim yellow light from the office that is just to the left, without even sticking his head around the corner. Piper is right, there’s no getting through without being seen by whoever’s in that room. Percy removes his pen from his pocket. 

“I’ll deal with the guard, you get the kids.”

“Percy, no, you can’t attack a civilian. We’ll come up with a distraction-“

Percy shakes his head, “No distractions. Go find those rooms. I’ll catch up with you.”

Jason tries to catch him but Percy is already slipping through the doors. He uncaps Riptide and knocks on the plexi-glass wall to his left just as the sword is materializing. Half a second later, a portly, middle-aged man bursts out the door. He looks to his left first, which is the only mistake he has time to make before Percy is on him, sword around his neck and right arm pinned up behind his back. He pushes the man back into the office, ducking behind his considerably mass because even the lowest security facilities have cameras these days. 

The guy starts to yell and Percy presses his word a little tighter. He hears Jason’s footsteps round the corner just below the pained gurgle from the orderly’s throat. The man is still struggling through, and his left arm is straining towards what Percy realizes is a red panic button.

Percy moves quickly, removing his sword from the man’s neck and bringing the butt down hard on the back of his head. The man immediately slumps, and Percy slows his fall just enough to get him to the floor in one piece. Percy hugs the edge of the desk back out into the hall. 

“Piper, the guard is out. I avoided the cameras but you may want to get Leo started on a complete system wipe and reset.” 

“Should I call for a bus?”

“No,” Percy says immediately, then adds, “Wait until we’re out to call 911.”

He barely hears her affirmation as he rounds the corner and sees Jason opening the door to room #6. On some level, Percy knows what he’s going to see in the room before he looks. On some level, he knows he probably shouldn’t look at all, he should leave the real heroism to Jason and just make sure everyone gets out safely.

The room is really small, barely more space than the twin bed in the corner. It looks pretty standard for a hospital room, except for the thick black straps crossing the bed. Crossing the person _in the bed_. It’s a young girl, and there’s some kind of mask on the lower half of her face. Percy can hear her muffled shouting from behind it. He feels blind rage building behind his eyes, like he hasn’t dealt with in years. It feels like his head is about to explode. He wants to go back and kill that guard. He wants to burn the building to the ground.

Jason rushes in, pulling off the mask, but quickly clamping his hand over her mouth when she starts to shout.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. We’re here to get you out. We’re like you.”

The girl struggles against her restraints, and she’s still glaring at Jason. Percy can’t stop staring at the black straps, the small room, the concrete walls with no windows. He barely sees Jason turn to stare at him. Finally, Percy meets the girl’s eyes, sees the anger and distrust in them. He knows that expression all too well. It sits deep in his core.

“Look,” Percy clears his throat, trying to clear his head, to pull it together, “We can take you somewhere, where you’ll be safe. If you don’t want to go there, we’ll drop you off at the bus station, it’ll bring you wherever you want to go.”

It’s clearly not the aid Jason was hoping for, but in true form he doesn’t undermine Percy, just nods at the girl and begins loosening her straps. She sits up, and Jason is helping her to her feet as Percy rushes out of the room. He’s opening the door as Jason rounds the corner.

“You always were the slowest lock pick in the group, Jas.”

The other two children, both boys, both younger, aren’t gagged, but they are restrained. Percy tries not to look too closely at either of them as he removes the bindings, leaving the reassurance to Jason and the girl, who has clearly filled the leadership role in the little group.

“Is there anyone else?” Percy asks her. She shakes her head.

“There was another girl with us when we got caught. They split us up for interrogation in the police station. She never made it here. We never saw her again.” 

The bottom drops out of Percy’s stomach, but he doesn’t acknowledge it. He turns to Jason, 

“Get them to the rendezvous. Do not wait for us.”

“Jackson you cannot be serious-“

An alarm sounds from overhead, filling the hallway with a deafening pulse. Red floodlights flicker on, but Percy is already running down the hall, clicking his earpiece.

“Piper, Jason is headed your way, recruits en tow. Leave directly from the rendezvous point, Nico and I will meet you back at camp. Tell Leo to go ahead with that diversion, we’re going to need it.”

He takes the microphone out of his ear and puts it in his pocket while racing up the stairs. He knows he’s probably showing up in every camera lens right now, but he hopes Leo can wipe it, because he’s not wasting time sneaking around. He stops his sprint at the top of the stairs to carefully peer around the door, which turns out to be a good call.

Nico is standing in the doorway of the administration office, looking far too relaxed to be staring down the guard in front of him.

“What the hell are you doing in here? How did you get in?” the orderly shouts. Red glow flickers over their faces and the alarm seems to get impossibly louder in Percy’s ears. The building is about to be crawling with law enforcement

“Routine inspection sir, nothing to worry about,” Nico says casually, but he doesn’t have Piper’s gift for persuasion. The guard removes a nightstick from his belt and Percy doesn’t hesitate. He runs up behind the guard, but Riptide is back in his pocket, so he throws his arms around the guy’s neck and gets him in a chokehold, just until the struggling stops. Percy grabs the radio off his belt and glares at Nico, who just grins.

“I had a plan.” 

Percy scoffs, “Did it involve all of us going to prison? Because that seems to be where it was headed.”

Percy grabs Nico’s arm and the two of them sprint off in the direction of the exit. The radio is crackling with a warning about intruders in the building.

They burst through the exit just in time to see flashing blue lights through the trees. Then, a loud explosion sends up a plume of red smoke over the treetops. The radio crackles again,

“Police response diverted to sudden fire on the other side of the lake. Next squad car five minutes out.” 

Percy grins at Nico, who for once looks a little bit confused.

“That’s our cue.”

They take off running through the woods.

 

* * *

  

It takes a few jumps for Nico to get them back to camp, and by the time they’re back on Long Island the sky is lavender with the just-rising sun. They sneak around the sand dunes on the beach until they’re over the border. One more quick jump lands them on Percy’s boat.

“Thanks for the ride,” Percy grins, but Nico levels a hard stare at them.

“Did you tell Leo to light something on fire ahead of time, or was that a spur-of-the-moment choice?”

“Needed a back up plan, a distraction if the cops got involved. Figured getting out might be harder than getting in.”

“And why is that?” 

“Well, if you had your own agenda, for one. Why’d you bail?” 

Percy surprisingly doesn’t feel that angry at Nico. Maybe he’s too mad about the whole situation, the blatant injustice of it, to be pissed at any one thing in particular. Nico frowns,

“I needed the rest of the story. This is bigger than those kids. Someone authorized restraining them at a mental facility without notifying anyone, and we need to know who it was and why.”

“You find out any of that?”

Nico shakes his head, “Police report says that the kids were tight-lipped about what happened, and didn’t say anything that would’ve gotten them admitted. So, someone already knew what was going on before it happened. Defintely the same someone that took the fourth kid. Probably the same someone that sent monsters after you. No mention of this person, though. Just the DHS agents giving the order to ‘hold the suspects until further notice’.” 

Percy nods, “Could’ve just told me you had other plans. We could’ve used your help.” 

“Seems like you took care of things pretty efficiently,” Nico responds, and Percy feels his eyes boring into his skull. He looks away quickly.

“Yeah, well, only efficient if Leo can get rid of the security footage.”

Neither of them feels the need to talk about what will happen if he can’t. Percy puts his hands in his pockets nervously. He doesn’t want to think about it, how he felt dropping those guards, or seeing the restraints, the tiny, windowless rooms. 

“You sticking around?” he asks instead, even those he knows the answer before Nico shakes his head.

Nico’s voice is quiet, a little apologetic, “No, I should get to shore. We’re all in deep shit anyway, but wouldn’t do for us to act as guilty as we are in front of Chiron tomorrow.”

Percy nods, and Nico steps up onto the side of the boat, presumably to get a clearer line of sight to shore. Percy offers his hand to help him. In retrospect, Percy will blame the shock of Nico actually taking it for his next move.

“Hey-“ he says, barely above a whisper, but it accomplishes what he must’ve meant it to because Nico turns his face back to Percy and Percy certainly didn’t have any follow up words besides leaning in and pressing his mouth firmly to Nico’s.

Percy feels Nico’s small whoosh of breath over his cheek, feels the hand in his twitch slightly, feels the lips under his tremble but press back. Maybe for balance, maybe out of instinct. Percy tries not to dwell on why, just focuses on not falling off the boat and maybe on tilting his head and feeling the way their mouths fit together better this way. He holds on for another few seconds, pushing his luck maybe, before gently disengaging, leaning his forehead against Nico’s for half a moment before pulling away, lifting his eyes to meet Nico’s.

If he’s shocked, Nico doesn’t show it. He doesn’t drop Percy’s hand either. For a minute there’s nothing but the lapping of the water against the boat. Then Nico asks, in the same quiet tone as before. 

“Why did you do that?”

Percy takes his time to answer, but it doesn’t get any better.

“Because I wanted to." 

It feels like the most hollow of reasons, but for Percy, it isn’t. For Percy, who hasn’t wanted to do anything in so long, it is the only reason that matters. And when he meets Nico’s eyes, Percy can tell Nico agrees. 

“Alright. Goodnight, Percy.”

“It’s morning.”

Nico just grins and disappears in a shadow-slice through the morning mist. Percy sits on the stern of _Anaklusmos_ and stares at the beach until the sun is fully up.

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Percy doesn’t know why he elects to have breakfast in the dining hall. Maybe he’s getting tired of granola bars. Maybe he’s looking for the exact sort of distraction marching into a public place the morning after a nearly-botched unapproved rescue mission will provide. Either way, he gets what he’s looking for.

“Jackson, Big House, five minutes.”

Percy cannot help but plaster a shit-eating grin across his face, “Good morning, Chiron, pleasant weather we’re having today-“ 

“Five minutes.”

Even if Chiron’s about to have his head, the sight of three newcomers at table #11 makes it really hard for Percy to feel worried about it. He takes his breakfast to go, ignoring the sudden wash of cold salty air through the pavilion.

Percy’s fully expecting to the reprimanded for last night’s activities, so when he gets to the house at the top of the hill and sees Jason, Piper, Leo, and Nico standing on the back porch isn’t really surprising. Percy holds his grin defiantly, but he has to completely ignore Nico to do it. There’s something burning in his ribcage. No one will make him regret rescuing those kids, no matter how much he’s jeopardized their supposed secrecy. He turns to Chiron, who is frowning.

“So, what is it this time?”

Leo actually laughs, but then Percy notices a fifth person standing off to the side. Katherine, from the Apate group, looking severe and emotionless as always.

“They’ve called a public hearing,” Katherine says. Percy looks from her to Chiron, and for once Chiron’s glare seems mostly directed at his own crossed arms, instead of at Percy.

Percy doesn’t bother to ask who has.

“What do they know?”

Katherine frowns, the most expression Percy’s ever seen on her. 

“It’s a little unclear – they’re playing that very close to the vest, which means they may suspect that the task force has been infiltrated. It’s apparent that they intend to present a link between the recent monster attacks and Camp Half Blood.”

“When?”

“Two days from now. They won’t announce it until tomorrow, though. Seems like they’re trying to keep it as private as possible.” 

“So why have a public hearing at all? It isn’t required,” Jason asks, frowning.

“It’s their informant,” Nico interjects, and Percy notices how he’s standing at Chiron’s side. It makes them look like they’re together on this, instead of butting heads like normal. For some reason, Percy feels a twinge of annoyance. His gut clenches. Nico isn’t really looking at him, and now Percy can’t look at anyone else.

“He must not be a government official,” Nico continues, “but they want his input at the hearing to decide how to proceed. Therefore, it has to be public.”

“But then, anyone could just show up. They’re risking blowing the whole thing wide open just for a civilian opinion?” Percy interjects. Nico shoots one of his patented humorless grins. 

“They’re risking it. The informant is guaranteeing it.”

“So we stop him,” says Leo, “Make sure he can’t attend, can’t go public with whatever he knows.”

Piper shakes her head, “We don’t even know who it is. How are we going to find him in a day?”

No one answers her. Percy sighs, shoves his hands in his pockets and looks up at Nico.

“So what do we do?”

It’s Chiron who answers him.

“You’ve told us the only solution. ‘Anyone could just show up’.”

Percy’s eyes flick around the group. Everyone is looking at him, even Katherine. He eventually goes back to looking at Nico, but it’s clear from his face that whatever they’ve decided, they did it long before Percy got there. 

“You cannot be serious. You want to confess?”

“We want _you_ to confess,” Chiron corrects. 

Percy feels like someone just punched the wind out of him (a sensation he’s quite familiar with).

“Only a little,” Nico adds, and somehow _that’s_ the moment Percy’s brain chooses to recall the events of earlier that morning. His sudden decision to kiss Nico, not really premeditated, even after their brief contact in the car. Nico actually kissing back, maybe just caught off-guard, but leaning in nonetheless. Not that you’d know it now, for how passive and unruffled he looks. Percy searches his face for any sign that things had changed between them, but finds none. There’s no expression on his face, no feeling in his eyes. Percy feels more alone than ever as his voice sticks in his throat. 

“What, exactly?”

Chiron replies, “Not to your parentage, certainly. They know about the monsters, and the near constant stakeout of this camp says they know we’re involved. What we need is someone to go in and show them how mortals have been kept safe from this danger all this time. You said the most important thing was keeping this camp open, a safe place for young demigods. They think we’re to blame for the attacks. You have to convince them that our secrecy and anonymity is for their protection. Make them realize how much they need us – it’ll buy us some time, to organize a quest to address the problem with the Mist.” 

Percy looks at Nico again, but finds nothing. He turns to Jason, who shrugs but looks concerned.

“How many mortal lives do you think you’ve saved? How many apocalypses have you stopped? If they know how much they owe you, _maybe_ they won’t throw us all in prison,” he says.

“Piper will be talking through your story with you – it’ll depend a little on what evidence they actually have on us. You only have a day to learn it.”

“It’s my life we’re blowing wide open here,” Percy finally speaks, flinching at the snap in his voice, “You think I need to memorize it?”

“It’ll be best to talk through it first, Percy,” Piper says, placing her hand on his arm. He doesn’t feel any calming influence, which he appreciates, “Figure out what to include, what to… leave out.” 

Percy feels his shoulders slump, eyes on the floor.

“I haven’t actually agreed to this, you know,” he mutters weakly to no one in particular. A dry scoff answers him, but Nico’s eyes are past him, past everyone, when he says, 

“Either you do, or we’re all done for.”

 

* * *

  

“In conclusion, I understand the harm our secrecy has caused, and I… oh this is so fucking stupid-“

“ _Percy_.”

“Yes, alright, for fucks… and I sincerely apologize for my role in hiding our organization from the public. I come forward now because I wish to impress upon the members of this committee that our intent, my intent, was only to protect innocent civilians from the existence of the supernatural, and that now I want nothing more than to assist in the elimination of this threat to American lives in any way I can hnnghh _Gods_ that is awful.”

“I know,” says Piper. There’s a long pause, and Percy can feel her eyes on him from the opposite side of Cabin #3 as he tries to look _anywhere_ else, “You know, we can… leave out, the bit about Tyson, if you want. You don’t have to say that if you don’t want to.”

Percy has long wondered how much of Piper’s soothing voice is intentional and how much is just how she is. Even now, he trusts her not to manipulate him, but there’s something about the way she speaks that makes her instantly trustworthy. Seems like she could’ve gotten away with a lot more than stealing cars. 

“Chiron would be furious. It makes the personal sacrifice angle a lot more compelling.”

She shrugs, “He’s always furious, and anyway he wouldn’t know until it was too late. You worried about him coming down on you?” 

Percy shakes his head, “Of course not. He will anyway. I swear we used to get along…”

“You did, and that’s why you don’t now.”

Percy frowns.

“What do you mean?”

Piper sighs, resting her chin on her hand and giving Percy a probing look that makes him squirm a little.

“You have to understand, Percy. Losing you _wrecked_ Chiron. You were his favorite, everyone knew. He got attached, and you were this shining beacon of the camp, of his training, of demigods everywhere. How did he repay you for all your effort? How did he reward your loyalty? He ruined your life.”

Percy feels a little guilty, since he’s pretty sure he’s accused Chiron of just that. 

“Yeah but _he_ didn’t-“

“Doesn’t matter,” she interrupts, nonplussed, “it’s on his head. We’re all on his head. So, he’s keeping his distance now. I think he’s trying to turn the whole next generation into Nico, and Gods help us if he succeeds.” 

Percy immediately feels the clash of desire to defend Nico and the frustration of even caring after Nico threw him to the wolves earlier. It must show on his face, because the first smile he’s seen since they entered the cabin breaks wide across her face.

“Hey, hold up, I like Nico. You know I do. No need to challenge me to a duel just yet.” 

Percy sputters, “I wasn’t- you know I wouldn’t- he’s just so-“ 

“No need for you to have a coronary, either,” she grins, gently touching his arm to reassure him, “How’s that going, for you two, anyway?” 

“There’s nothing going on with-“

The dry look Piper levels at him stops the lie in its tracks. Percy sighs.

“Fine. I don’t know. _I don’t know._ Nico is…”

Terrifying. Incredible. Infuriating. Witheringly self-sufficient. Percy thinks the next generation of demigods could do a lot worse, but when it comes to maybe wanting something more, something behind all the walls, Nico is the most complex maze.

“… complicated.”

Piper nods, smile shrinking a little, “Complicated. Doesn’t make it any less worth it, though.” 

“Is that what you think?” Percy asks, suddenly desperate for help, for someone to tell him what to do, and he could do worse than Piper for that. Piper’s smile is sad when she gives him another shrug. 

“Yes. We all need to learn to be alone, but don’t you think you’ve done that?”

She leaves a long silence for Percy and his thoughts, and somehow, practicing his speech is better than being alone in his head.

“Again?”

“At your leisure.” 

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Percy Jackson, and I’m here to tell you I have been protecting American citizens from the types of threats uncovered by this committee for my entire life. When I was 12 years old, I was recruited by a camp in Long Island that specialized in the training and dispatching of gifted-“

“Sorry to interrupt.”

Percy doesn’t have to look up to see who it is, or to know that who it is isn’t sorry. Nico looks utterly bored as he leans against the cabin doorframe, holding a long black garment bag over his shoulder.

“No trouble at all, Nico,” Piper says, smiling, and Percy chuckles a little at how hard Nico clearly has to work to keep his neutral expression when faced with the full force of Piper McLean, “We’re just about done here. Aren’t we, Percy?” 

No, he wants to say. We’re not done. He has to tell his life story to a room filled with a hundred of his closest complete strangers tomorrow and right now the last thing he wants is to have to confront Nico about what’s shaping up to be an extremely misguided kiss.

“Yeah, pretty much. What’s in the bag?”

The dry look Nico gives him reassures Percy that yes, his icebreaker is a stupid as it sounds.

“A suit. Didn’t think you were showing up to this party in your CHB t-shirt, did you? Piper, I left yours with your cabin mates.” 

“It better not be pink,” Piper laughs as she stands, flicking her hair out of her face as she moves to leave the cabin. Percy tries to think of a reason to keep her there.

“Your suit? Why do you have a suit?”

She turns back to him, and her face looks a little mischievous, “Can’t let you go in undefended, can I? I will be playing the part of your lawyer in this particular horse-and-pony show.”

She claps Nico on the shoulder, and Percy is kind of annoyed when he doesn’t flinch.

“Do you even know any law?” Nico asks, smirking. Piper laughs.

“I dabble.”

 

* * *

 

Regardless of how much law she actually knows, Piper certainly looks the part when they arrive in DC. Percy fidgets with his tie as he steps out of the ominous black SUV and offers his hand to Piper. She steps out gracefully, as unperturbed by the lethal heels she’s wearing as she is by the crisp fabric of her pantsuit. Percy wishes he looked so comfortable, eying the light gray wool of his jacket and slacks with disdain. Jason slides into the passenger seat and gives Percy a sympathetic look. He and Leo offered to drive them down, but since they won’t be joining them for the proceedings, Percy is left to look on jealously at their jeans and t-shirts. Jason’s expression slips to something distinctly fonder as he nods to Piper before closing the door. The car races down the busy avenue and Percy turns to look at the nondescript building that holds the key to all their futures.

Piper catches the direction of his eyes and moves between him and the building, extending her hand. 

“Shall we?”

Percy finds himself taking it, curling his long, rough fingers around her much smaller, softer ones. Maybe it isn’t typical lawyer-client behavior, holding hands, but he finds it extremely comforting as they take the marble steps together.

The room is surprisingly non-descript for the sinking feeling Percy gets in his stomach as he walks into it. Turns out, one hundred people was a drastic overestimate. Maybe the extremely short timeframe worked to someone’s advantage, because the office-style stadium seats are less than half full. There are a few cameras propped up on bored-looking cameramen, and not for the first time, Percy is surprised by how little attention a hearing about the possible existence of supernatural monsters draws from the media. He gets a spark of something almost like hope. Maybe nothing will come of this. Maybe the task force didn’t really find anything and he won’t even have to speak. Maybe Chiron is wrong.

He sees Chiron, in the handicapped section of the seats, Hazel just behind him. He looks every part the dignified old man in a wheelchair, down to the grim set of his brow. As soon as he sees Chiron, Percy’s eyes strain for Nico, but he isn’t with their former mentor. In fact, Percy realizes with an infuriating drop below his abdomen, he doesn’t see Nico at all. Technically, there’s no reason for him to come, but it kind of makes Percy want to hit something. Or run from the room.

Piper squeezes his hand, bringing him back to the present, and Percy follows her lead into the front row of seats facing the intimidating raised desk in the front of the room. It’s a long bench, old faux-wood laminate, with several people seated at it. There’s a microphone in the middle, with a severe-looking woman seated behind it, directly opposite a lone podium in the center of the room. Percy can’t take his eyes off the podium, the nondescript vinyl siding, the small black microphone, how it’s a good ten feet from everything else in the room. Kind of a modern chopping block.

“This meeting will come to order,” the woman at the central microphone speaks, as though the room could be any quieter. Percy scans the room again for Nico. No dice. 

“The proceedings will cover the findings of task force 58, convened by the US Department of Homeland Security, presided over by Deputy Secretary of the DHS, Mitchell Reinhart.”

It’s starting. Percy was briefed – mostly by Piper – on how these hearings worked. One member of the committee would rehash the reasons behind forming the committee in the first place. They would present their findings, then call for any additional, pre-registered testimonials. Since it was public, anyone could just go up and speak during open call. That’s what Percy is supposed to wait for. His turn, to tell them everything. To tell them about New York, and California, and Kronos, and Gaea, and…

Nico isn’t there.

“In the months following the events that occurred just after 03:00 hours in Cleona, Pennsylvania on February 22 of this year, this task force was assembled to address the sudden presence of an unidentified organism of considerable size that matched or resembled several reports submitted nation-wide over the past 12 months. Several months after the Pennsylvania, another report was filed concerning the discovery of a covert facility in Long Island, NY where eye-witnesses described the presence of several uncategorized organisms of similar or related description. Further investigation of this facility was undertaken on advisement from the DHS, revealing the facility to be a residence for a number of unidentified minors between the ages of 10 and 20 years old. 

“Considering the clear affiliation of this facility with the events in Pennsylvania, and the presence of several children reported missing to the federal authorities over the past 10 years on the premises, we recommend immediate search of the facility and questioning of any and all personnel deemed to be affiliated with its operation. A warrant for search and questioning has been drafted for the organization known temporarily as CHB. This task force will not disband under the threat status of CHB has been determined and eliminated.” 

Piper leans to speak in Percy’s ear.

“It’s almost time. They’re going to call their informant, we’ll find out what they really know, and then you’ll be up.”

The gentle squeeze of his arm isn’t quite enough to reassure him this time. Percy tries to let out the breath he’s been holding slowly, but it sounds deafening in his ears.

“At this time, the committee would like to call Mr. Warren J. Dare, CEO of Dare Enterprises, to the stand, to testify to the link of the Pennsylvania incident and the facility known as CHB, on which he has informed the committee thus far.” 

Percy’s heart must’ve stopped. The blood must’ve stopped flowing to his ears, because there’s no way he heard that name right. There’s no way the sharp looking man walking to the center podium is actually attached to the name he just heard. He can’t see the man’s face, didn’t know to look for anyone else in the room (besides Nico) before his name was called. He can only stare, horrified, at the back of his head. Piper is at his ear again.

“Dare? As in _Rachel_ Dare-?”

The man reaches the microphone and Percy can almost hear a smile in his voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak today.” 

It’s absolutely his voice. Percy hasn’t heard it in years, but there’s no mistaking the way the smooth cadence matches with the panic rising in Percy’s head.

“I have been aware of the existence of this ‘CHB’ for some time, but only after the terrible events of this winter and the formation of this fine committee was I able to put my knowledge to good use. I have been informing the committee on the goings on in the CHB facility for some months now, but today I must draw your attention to the true nature of their work, which has only been made apparent to me recently.”

“Piper, I think we need to leave,” Percy whispers. Piper looks uncharacteristically unsure.

“We need to know what he knows, though…”

“I understand what I am about to describe to you will sound outlandish and absurd,” Mr. Dare continues, though his tone conveys just the opposite, absolute confidence, “but I must ask you to hear my words through the lens of a man who not only worries for the safety of his beloved country, but also longs for those responsible for the abduction and corruption of his beloved daughter to be brought to justice.”

Piper’s hand on Percy’s arm trembles. 

“You see, my daughter, Rachel Elizabeth, at the tender age of 12, was taken to the CHB facility under false pretenses. To this day I have not begun to understand the nature or extent of what was done to her. I only know this – after being exposed to this facility and those who operate it, she was never the same. After 6 months of repeated, extended disappearances, my daughter, with whom I was once so close, was all but lost to me, allowing only the barest of contact between us. It is for this reason that I used my considerable resources to understand the nature of CHB, to discover what they do and what they had done to my daughter.”

“Words cannot adequately describe what I have discovered. I have prepared a demonstration which I can only hope conveys a fraction of the gravity of the situation.” 

Percy sees him remove a pen from his pocket. He flips off the cap, and while Percy is half-expecting a sword, a projector beam flies from the end. It displays a picture on the far wall, above the committee’s heads, and they all turn to look at it. 

“Everything,” Percy whispers, “He knows everything.”

The first picture is of Percy. And the second. The third is clearly an overhead surveillance photo of camp, but there’s a large, winged animal in it that looks suspiciously like a horse with someone riding it. Then another of Percy. Percy with a sword, on the training pitch. Percy on the battlefields of Gaea, blade imbedded in the skull of a dead cyclops. Percy standing under a tidal wave in Southern California, hand raised.

The committee members are silent, all turned to stare at the grainy photos of the same person projected on the wall.

“I understand this is confusing, and shocking, to have brought to light so suddenly. What I can tell you is that this person has been on the scene of nearly every unexplained national disaster over the past 15 years, that he was trained at the facility we are currently investigating, and that there are others like him.”

The picture switches, and Percy sees Jason in the background… elevated 20 feet off the ground, holding a spear. In this photo, Percy’s arms are encased in water that’s wrapping around a tree trunk, ripping it out of the ground. 

“What are you trying to show us here, Mr. Dare?” the lead committee member speakers, and Percy catches the quaver in her voice, “What are you suggesting?” 

“I am suggesting, though I can prove it should my proposal be accepted,” Mr. Dare continues, “that this facility, this camp, is responsible not only for the sudden emergence of mythical organisms in our towns, but also for the recruitment and militarization of young persons in this country who possess powers and abilities firmly within the realm of the supernatural.” 

Now would normally be the time for aggressive murmuring, Percy thinks, but the committee just stares in silence at Mr. Dare. Percy can tell by the hold of his shoulders and neck that the man isn’t bothered by the looks he’s getting in the slightest. 

“And… and you can prove this?” the lead asks, her whisper barely picked up by the microphone.

“Of course. In this day of photo editing and manipulation I know full well a captured image will not be enough. That is why I propose immediate seizure of all CHB property and personnel, with the intent to question and catalogue the specific capabilities and histories of each member of this illicit organization. This will lead us to better understand of the epidemic on a national scale, on which I propose a registration program for all persons like the ones in these photographs in order to assess the threat they pose to the general public as well as our nation’s security.”

Then the lights cut out.

It’s pitch black, much darker than if someone had just turned off the lights. Percy knows Mr. Dare is looking at him, right at him from across the darkened room. He’s looking back, and the only thing in the world that could distract him is the sudden hand on the side of his neck, the low voice whispering directly into his ear.

“Time to go.” 

His vision grows impossibly darker and the ground falls from beneath his feet. 

“Nice of you to join us,” is the first thing out of Percy’s mouth, before the walls of Cabin #3 have even fully materialized. The first thing he hears is Nico’s laugh. 

“Just because you couldn’t see me, you think I wasn’t there?”

Percy figures he should’ve suspected this, and for a moment feels a little relieved. He falls heavily on his old bunk, elbows propped on his knees. Then –

“If I couldn’t see you, does it matter if you were there or not?”

He expects a sharp dismissal, welcomes it even, considering how much he wishes he could push those words back down his throat. _Way to show your hand, Jackson_. He doesn’t get one, though. Nico just falls silent, and Percy is forced to change the subject.

“Chiron tell you to pull me out?”

Nico scoffs, “Yeah, right. He’s going to be furious - would’ve left you in there ‘till the cops showed up if it meant getting all the information he wanted. Dare was working up to his big reveal, ‘demigods in our midst, threatening our way of life from this very room!’. Hazel and I decided we’d heard enough.”

Percy feels a smile on his face, and it kind of hurts.

“Wait, are you telling me we just fell for a villain monologuing?”

Nico’s laugh is sudden and unexpected. The muscles in Percy’s jaw ache.

“Gods, you’d really think we’d be past that kind of rookie mistake, at this point.” 

Percy looks up from his hands to see Nico looking back at him, _almost_ smiling. It changes his whole face.

“What do we do now?” 

Nico shrugs, “Wait, I guess. I’m sure everyone’s racing back as we speak, but it’ll be awhile.” 

Percy leans back on his arms.

“Well, I certainly can’t leave now. Guess I’m staying.”

A sudden, bright, intense look flashes across Nico’s face, before falling immediately into something distinctly more horrified. Percy feels the laugh escape his mouth before he stops to think.

“Don’t give me that face. This was all your idea. I’m just doing what you tell me.”

“Think you’d be past that kind of rookie mistake, at this point,” Nico manages, but the words are soft. He moves closer, stands right in front of Percy’s knees, and Percy is forced to tip his head all the way back to keep eye contact. 

“What if,” Nico whispers, “I told you to hold still?” 

Percy smiles. Why is he smiling? The furrow on Nico’s brow is intense, gives Percy a headache just looking at it. So why can’t he keep the stupid grin off his face?

“Holding.” 

It’s a long way to lean down for Nico, and Percy _barely_ manages to be patient and wait, hands firmly on the mattress. He feels cool hands slide over his neck and lets his eyes close just as Nico kisses him, unable to keep up the stare-down any longer. The hands on his neck pull him in to the mouth on his, and Percy actually hears himself groan. 

Suddenly, this is not the chaste kiss from the other night. Suddenly, Nico is not hesitant or tentative, threading one hand through Percy’s hair and angling his head just the way he wants and the way their mouths fit together is so different from the first time that Percy can barely believe it’s all covered under the same word. He opens his mouth, just a little, maybe to prove this isn’t his first rodeo or maybe just for more, and Nico quickly threading his tongue into Percy’s mouth is the last straw for Percy holding still. 

He quickly releases the mattress, hands sliding over Nico’s hips and holding, pulling him closer. Nico kneels, or his knees buckle, and Percy winces at the click of kneecaps on the stone floor. Nico doesn’t even pause, easily positioning himself between Percy’s legs and kissing him harder, harder, until Percy can’t breathe, can’t think of anything except how he needs more of this, of how long it’s been since he felt anything like it, if he’s _ever_ felt anything like it, and if he had known, if he had just known about this feeling he would’ve pursued it with the single-minded focus that some people do drugs.

An unwelcome thought crosses his mind, that from the feel of things, Nico is no amateur. The way the bottom drops out of his stomach makes Percy grip Nico’s hips harder, pull him closer, chase his mouth when Nico draws back a little. Maybe he’s startled by the sudden intensity, or maybe he’s leaning into the hand that has moved from over his jeans to his lower spine, under his shirt. Either way, the brief hesitation passes instantly when Nico comes back twice as strong on Percy’s lips, fingers twisting in his hair. The sensation forces all the air from Percy’s lungs in a gasp that breaks on Nico’s jaw, and the sound Nico makes in response, a little too high-pitched to be a groan, might just be the hottest noise Percy’s ever heard-

“Well.” 

Nico flies back, but there’s nowhere to go by the stone floor. It’d be pretty funny, Percy thinks, seeing him sprawled on the ground when he’s normally so composed and intimidating, except his humor sensors are currently being overridden by Jason’s presence in the doorway.

“Seems like you’re coping with the situation just fine.”

At least Jason’s ability to be amused seems to be intact, though Percy thinks his eyes might say otherwise. Nico looks irritated, and Percy’s glad it’s not at him. Yet.

“What are you doing here, Grace?”

Jason looks down at his crossed arms. Percy notices he looks a little wind-blown.

“I flew. Everyone else is on the way, but considering the levity of the situation, I thought I’d race back, make sure you were doing okay, Perc. Seems I needn’t have bothered, what with Nico being such a great friend and all.”

Nico’s glare deepens, and Percy clears his throat, feeling the sudden need to break this up before it turns into a fight.

“Uh, well, I… thanks for that. It’s, um… appreciated.” 

Jason actually laughs, though he looks a little surprised by the sound.

“Well, I’m certainly not going to kiss you.”

He turns and walks out. Percy can’t help his (regrettably slow) come back, so he shouts after him. 

“Hey can I get that in writing?” 

The shocked and maybe slightly awed look on Nico’s face might be worth the awkwardness, but before Percy can say anything, Nico gets up and storms out.

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

The lights flicker on in an apartment in New York City’s Greenwich Village. It’s a clean space, full of sleek modern furniture and new appliances. Carefully selected artwork dots the walls, and a few homey accents around the place – a thick afghan on the couch, several hand-made bowls on the side table – make the room look comfortable and lived in. The woman who flicked the light on closes the door behind her and locks it, before shrugging off her dark green coat. Raindrops shake onto the entry rug as she hangs it to the side. She pushes her long red hair out of her face and yelps.

“Hey, Rachel,” Percy says from the chair in the living room. Rachel holds on hand over her chest and breathes.

“Hi, Percy. Don’t suppose there’s any point in asking how you got in.”

“I’m more interested in how you don’t already know.” 

Leaving her rain boots by the door, Rachel comes into the living room and sets her bag on the table by the couch before sinking down onto it. She doesn’t respond, but Percy can see how tired she looks. Of all the reintroductions of the past few days, Rachel seems the most aged. He remembers a small, energetic girl with more red curls than could possibly be controlled. The curvy, composed woman before him is beautiful, but there’s strain around her eyes. 

Percy picks up the remote on the coffee table and points it at the television. Instantly, a video of the courtroom appears on the screen, with Mr. Dare front and center and a ticker along the bottom reading: SHOCKING REVEAL OF SUPERNATURAL AT PUBLIC HEARING LEAVES DHS SCRAMBLING TO CONTAIN THREAT. The bright pink letters of MUTE flash in the upper right-hand corner.

“All this time, Chiron assumed there’d been no prophecies because I wasn’t around to get summoned,” Percy says, voice low, “Now he thinks you knew the whole time and didn’t tell us.” 

Rachel shakes her head quickly. 

“I didn’t. I didn’t know. It isn’t what it looks like.” 

Percy nods, “I kind of figured. Chiron’s… well, I’ve been told he’s desperate, not just an asshole. So here I am. Explain.”

“Did you come by yourself?” 

“Jason is parking. He’ll be along in a minute.”

“If he can ever find a space.” 

“Tell me what happened, Rachel.”

Rachel’s frown deepens, and Percy sees the strain in her eyes turn to wetness.

“It was never the same, after you guys left. You, Annabeth, even Nico, though he wasn’t around much to begin with. The war, it was so awful, no one knew anything could ever be that terrible, and I should’ve, I didn’t… I didn’t know how to tell you all, before, what was going to happen, and when it did, everyone was so betrayed, and I didn’t warn them, I couldn’t, because if they knew…” 

She looks up suddenly, and Percy sees the hardness in her eyes that he knows took up residence in his own a long time ago. It vanishes quickly, and she looks distracted as she continues the rambling account, 

“If people knew how terrible war could be, they wouldn’t go, wouldn’t fight, and we had to fight. After though, I stopped looking for the future. I moved out of Camp, and sometimes, now and again I’d get a vision, always something minor. I just video chat with Micah – the Apollo counselor – now, no need to actually be there all the time, when everyone else had left.” 

“Then, slowly, I couldn’t see. Everything got blurrier, and I thought I was losing the touch, maybe since my heart wasn’t in it, the sight was leaving me, and I was… happy. What good is it to know the future, if all I could do was stay quiet and watch it destroy lives? If I’d paid more attention, if I’d cared, maybe I’d have realized what was happening…” 

Percy leans forward, elbows on his knees. 

“Your father, Rachel.”

She nods, absently, “I realized he’d been keeping tabs on me, trying to figure out where I would go, what I was doing, years ago. He never seemed to find anything. Now… maybe he always knew, maybe he realized what I could do. He can see through the Mist, Percy. Like I can. He kept watching, when I didn’t. When it started to recede… he must’ve seen it. That’s when he went to the feds, with years of evidence…” she trails off. Percy tries to catch her attention. 

“Pictures, Rachel. He has photos. Of me, of Jason, he’s convincing them to raid Camp, arrest everyone, make demigods go through some kind of registration.”

She nods absently, that that’s when Percy catches it. Her eyes aren’t watering, they’re glassy, glazed. Percy tries again. 

“We need to know what his plan is, Rachel. The DHS, they’re just listening to him, a civilian, it doesn’t make any sense, and Chiron thinks they’re going to move on Camp on his word alone. I hate to agree with him, but they’re already looking for me…” 

The ticker on CNN changes to: NATIONWIDE MANHUNT FOR BOY IN DISTURBING IMAGES CONTINUES, NO LEADS. Rachel stares past Percy, past the TV, towards some nondescript spot on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Rachel, I know he’s your…” Percy starts, but then trails off. There’s something he’s missing. He’s so out of practice, Nico’s been carrying him up to this point. He’s asking her before he even realizes why. 

“Rachel… have you been feeling okay?”

She nods absently, but then adds, “I was getting headaches. Started a… started ages ago. Better now, though. I have medication, we can’t all be demigods. Percy, he… he can see through the Mist, like me. I didn’t know, but it’s the only explanation for how he knows so much. I don’t know what to do, Percy. I just don’t see the solution like I used to.” 

Percy finally turns and follows her train of sight over his shoulder. The far wall of the apartment is completely glass, and even from his spot on the couch he can see straight into the unit across the street. He can even see straight into the face of the person standing in it, a man in a dark suit with his arms folded.

_Shit_.

“Rachel, quickly, tell me. When was the last time you saw your father?”

She shakes her head, “Ages. Months and months. He never calls. I thought things were better between us when he got me this apartment, but he never stops by, even though it’s his building.”

That isn’t right, Percy realizes. He’d thought the apartment, Rachel, all of it, seemed a little off because it’d been seven years, people change, everyone else certainly has. Not this time. Maybe Mr. Dare can’t only see through the Mist. Maybe he can manipulate it.

Just for a second, a tremor flashes through the room, and Percy sees the concrete walls of a cell. A haggard inmate stares back at him from a rickety wooden chair, peering out between locks of matted, dirty auburn hair. Then the sleek apartment snaps back, the beautiful woman returns, but the flicker burns behind Percy’s eyes. 

Maybe it’s a trap. Percy will admit, he’s always fallen for tricks of the Mist. Not for the first time he angrily wonders why he’s so easy to fool. Maybe he just prefers to see things as he wants to, instead of how they actually are. Rookie mistakes. 

“I’m sorry, Rachel. I’m so sorry. I have to go. I promise, I’ll fix this. I’ll make it right.” 

As soon as he opens the door to the hallway he hears the heavy boots on the stairs. He’s halfway out when he hears her say, 

“It was never the same, after you guys left…” 

He makes it to the car without seeing anyone, which is either the most brilliant stroke of luck he’s ever had, or because he was always meant to escape. Considering how his luck fares normally, Percy knows which he thinks is more likely.

“Where’s Rachel?” Jason asks immediately, even as he follows Percy’s instructions to _drive, now_ by peeling out of the back alley. Percy begrudgingly sends up silent thanks for the existence of fire escapes and almost forgets the question.

“Percy.”

“She’s, I couldn’t, she’s been… compromised.”

Jason frowns and Percy feels the engine rev.

“How.” 

Percy shakes his head, “I don’t know. It’s clear he got to her early on. She didn’t know, about any of it, really. Says she started losing her visions a while ago, but didn’t think anything of it. She actually seemed… happy, about it. I think…”

“What?” Jason prompts.

“I’m not sure what she’s seeing. I think… that Mr. Dare has some control of the Mist.” 

“He’s a mortal.” 

“So is she. It kind of makes sense. It bends around them already, seems like it must be kind of the same principle to control it. I don’t know, I’ve always been shit at that. Anyway, he’s watching the place. Pretty sure he saw the whole thing from across the street. I’m lucky I even got out.”

He doesn’t voice his other concern, that he didn’t escape at all, but was allowed to leave. For what purpose, Percy can’t even begin to imagine. Maybe Dare just doesn’t see them as a threat. Percy’s inclined to agree with him.

“Huh,” Jason says, smiling a little. Percy frowns.

“What?” 

“You’ve gotten smarter in the past few years, Jackson.”

“You take that back.”

Jason chuckles, and then drive in silence for a mile or so, away from the city. Percy’s trying to think of his next move, and failing, when he catches Jason shooting occasional pensive looks in his direction.

“What, Grace?” 

“Oh, nothing, it’s just,” Jason pauses, then says casually, “I hope I didn’t start a fight, between you and Nico, after… yesterday.” 

Percy regrets asking already, but not quite enough to quench his curiosity, not as much as he wants a distraction from the image of Rachel staring at the walls of her imaginary apartment.

“Why?” 

“Well, Chiron asked me where he was, earlier. Apparently we were the last people to see him. I mean, he does make himself scarce, but usually there’s at least one Nico sighting per day, and since you’ve been back he’s been around a lot more so…” 

There’s no need to finish the thought. Percy shifts uncomfortably in his seat. The ride out had been blissfully free of intrusive questioning, since they were both in important-mission mode. Now, there’s plenty of time for awkward conversation. 

“Well, we didn’t fight. He just stormed off after you showed up.” 

“No idea where he went?” 

“Not a clue. He doesn’t tell me anything.” 

“Yeah. How’s that going, by the way?”

Percy stares at his sneakers. 

“That well, huh?”

“We haven’t exactly talked about it,” Percy mumbles, then freezes, “Not that there’s an ‘it’. Don’t tell him I said there was an ‘it’.”

Jason laughs, “Oh no, I’m not telling him anything. There will be absolutely no note-passing from me.”

“You liar. I’ve seen you two, mumbling, shooting pointed glances, conniving. What were you talking about, the weather?”

“That wasn’t note-passing,” Jason says, a little defensive, “That was just… a gentle shove in the right direction.”

Percy snorts, “So you were telling him he can do better than a washed-up camp counselor who never went to college.”

“That describes literally every person he knows.” 

“Wow, we are completely depressing.” 

“Are you surprised, though? There’s about to be a war on and everyone’s more interested in how long you two have been hooking up.” 

“We haven’t been hooking-! Hey, wait what do you mean ‘everyone’?”

“Oh, _everyone_.”

 

* * *

  

It’s late, on the far end of dusk, and Percy skips dinner, skips camp entirely, in favor of retreating to his boat. He doesn’t want to talk to Chiron, or have any more meetings. He definitely doesn’t want to explain how he walked into a trap, found out almost nothing except that it was a trap, and then left one of his oldest friends under the influence of some mind-control game to save his own skin. He needs the distraction of the cheap bourbon over his fridge, the tinny speakers of his stereo. Tomorrow, he’ll figure out a plan. Tomorrow, he’ll figure out how a bunch of washed-up camp counselors are going to break into a skyscraper in Manhattan and get one of the most powerful men in the country, who may or may not also be a certified wizard, to change his mind about hunting them all down, one by one. 

Okay, maybe he has the plan, Percy thinks as he stares into the bottom of his glass, listening to the soft music fill the small cabin. Tomorrow, the how. Chiron’s never going to go for this. If Piper’s right, and all his bitterness really does stem from feeling that he’s failed as a mentor, letting them “storm the base” on a suicide mission seems pretty far down on the list of things he’s going to be okay with. Maybe he’ll be desperate enough, Percy thinks, hopes. Maybe he can use that angle, saving the next generation, acknowledging that it’s too late for anyone who grew up in the Gaea era. 

He’s so lost in his pseudo-strategy that he doesn’t hear the footsteps on the deck until the hatch door swings open. He’s got one hand on Riptide before Nico appears on the ladder, landing gently in the cabin and closing the door behind him.

The “Oh, it’s you” he mutters sounds lame in his own ears. Nico smirks.

“Do you always just wait for intruders to catch you in a confined space before reacting?”

Unlike the time Nico’d caught him half-asleep on the deck, now his voice is light, amused. Percy grins back. 

“Honestly, didn’t even hear you. I was busy drinking.”

Nico eyes the glass and then looks back at Percy, unimpressed. 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better about your lack of self-preservation?”

Percy shrugs, and Nico walks closer, standing next to the small table. Percy has to lean back to look at him.

“Rough day?”

Percy nods, choosing to look away instead of responding.

“Jason says Rachel can’t help us,” Nico continues quietly. 

Percy’s eyes snap up again. Nico actually looks… sympathetic isn’t exactly the word, but there’s a softness in his expression, like he understands that dragging Rachel into this mess, today or 10 years ago, is something Percy has never felt good about. That discovering her incapacitated and used as bait, by her own father, and then leaving her behind, is something worth drinking over.

Percy acknowledges that this is Nico understanding, and ignores all of it.

“You stopped to talk to Jason before coming here?”

Nico rolls his eyes.

“Jealous?”

Percy shrugs, not trusting his voice. Not exactly jealous, or at least not in the way Nico is teasing him about.

“I didn’t want to go through it with you. Better to bother him first,” Nico explains. This makes Percy frown.

“Why, got something else to talk to me about besides this mess?”

That’s the crux of it, though, and Percy realizes he just laid his favorite insecurity right out on the table. Without a prophecy, without a crisis, is there any point to him? Percy goes back to looking at the table. Nico is too smart not to pick up what Percy’s asking, but there’s always the hope that he’ll ignore it. 

Legs come into his downward stare as Nico sidles between Percy and the table. Percy feels Nico’s knee brush his hips, feels his crossed arms barely graze the soft material of Nico’s t-shirt. Nico reaches down to pick up the half-empty glass and polish it off. Percy can’t help it – he looks up to see Nico finish the amber liquid with no trouble at all, keeps his eyes on Nico’s face as he sets the glass down, out of the way.

“Yeah, I do, actually. Before tomorrow, before…” Nico trails off, clearly wanting to look away but managing not to. He looks nervous, Percy realizes, and Percy has to admit, he kind of loves it when Nico looks nervous. Anything to make him drop his perfect self-control. It makes Percy’s heart race, the idea that he might get under Nico’s skin, that there might be a point to Percy Jackson after all.

“What’s tomorrow?” he asks quietly, unwinding his arms, and if this causes him to gently brush Nico’s abdomen, right above his belt buckle, well it was probably an accident. Nico stills, and Percy knows already that he’s not going to find out what tomorrow is, and that at the moment he really doesn’t care.

Predictably, Nico doesn’t answer his question. Unpredictably, he does swing a leg over Percy’s and sit on the table, bracing his legs on either side of Percy’s hips on the bench seat. Nico leans back on his hands and gives Percy a long stare, mildly curious, in a clear challenge. Percy realizes it’s his turn to act, to address the “it” that has sprung up between them, or to ignore it, but he’s spent enough time over the past week feeling like a coward and he sure as hell isn’t backing away from this.

“You know what, I don’t care about tomorrow.” 

Nico raises an eyebrow, but for a second, Percy thinks he looks… hopeful?

“Oh, no? Good. Come here.”

Percy obeys instantly, standing up directly between Nico’s legs. There’s barely a foot gap between the bench and the table, but getting right into Percy’s personal space seems to be Nico’s main objective, because instantly Percy feels long fingers wind around his neck and pull him down to be kissed. All his breath rushes out as Nico’s mouth finds his, coaxes it open, presses closer. Percy feels instinct take over, forgets for a second to be constantly worried about pushing too far and coming up against Nico’s ever-inscrutible boundaries, so he lets his hands find Nico’s sides, slide along his ribs and pull him in, secured with one arm around his waist. The warmth of the body pressed along his is more than welcome, and Percy feels a smile he can’t control breaking over his face. He pulls his mouth away from Nico’s, just enough to grin, and then shifts to press his mouth gently to Nico’s jaw, just below his ear.

Nico shudders, and the hands that have dropped to Percy’s shoulders dig in.

“Gods, Jackson that’s… that’s your move?” he whispers, and the way his voice shakes makes Percy pull him closer. 

“Yeah, I guess it is. What’dyou think?” Percy murmurs, mostly thinking about how warm Nico is, how nice he smells, how he could probably stay like this for hours.

“Good move.” 

Nico stands, and they’re eye-to-eye, and suddenly, Percy has a million questions. He wants to know what this is. He needs to hear where Nico has been all this time, why he came back, why he came looking, if he’s staying. He wants to know how Nico feels about him, if somehow, impossibly, the past seven years haven’t taken that too. He wants to know that he hasn’t missed his chance to feel the same way.

Percy’s mind is moving a thousand miles a minute, but for once the multitasking thing seems to be working out. He’s always had a hard time differentiating between violent and non-violent physical contact, so maybe the ADHD that repeatedly saves his ass in fights also makes him hardwired for making out. Still, the part of his brain that isn’t occupied with the more pertinent motor functions required for the current madness realizes that it has never know less about what is going on, and it really thinks it would be better to throw things into park and get some more information before continuing down this particular road. 

However, Percy has never thought much of being the voice of reason, so instead of doing any of that, he lets Nico walk him towards the triangular mattress in the bow, lets himself be pushed down onto the rough sheets, and lets Nico climb on top of him and straddle his hips. It doesn’t take him long to get a feel for Nico, for the undercurrent of aggression and daresay hostility that exists in every touch. The hands that are on his waist are pressing hard, digging in, and the mouth on his is bruising, and Percy finds himself very okay with that.

Nico grips Percy’s shirt and yanks it over his head without fanfare. Percy goes to return the favor, but Nico blocks him inadvertently (maybe) by kiss-biting down his neck and chest and putting the hem of his black t-shirt thoroughly out of reach. Percy groans at a particularly hard bite, and Nico licks over it with the flat of his tongue and moves on to the waistband of Percy’s jeans, which he cannot get unbuttoned fast enough.

“Who has button-up jeans, Percy, for gods sake.”

Percy chuckles a little, actually glad for the random comment if he can use it to slow things down a little.

“Can’t make it too easy. Hey, Nico…”

But Nico ignores him, finally getting the buttons undone enough to pull Percy’s pants halfway down to his knees. Nico’s face is right next to the cotton tent of his rapidly growing erection in his boxers, and Percy groans even as he tries to pull him back up.

“Nico, do you think maybe-“

Nico looks up at him, and Percy’s voice falters at the look on his face. No one has ever looked at Percy like that, not even close, and not for a very long time. Nico’s eyes are black, his jaw is set, and it isn’t a happy expression, but it makes Percy’s heart rattle against its cage like it can break free if it just beats fast enough.

“Percy, do you want me?” his voice is low and it makes Percy’s whole body twitch. His head falls back. It is so much more complicated than that, but he’s not about to lie.

“Fuck, Nico. Yes.”

“Good. Can you let me do this? I just need to do this.” 

The way he says it, like he’ll die without whatever the fuck ‘this’ is, is hotter than his touch or his body. The only thing it doesn’t match is the clenching feeling in Percy’s chest. Just for one more second Percy has things his way as he pulls Nico’s face towards his for a long, slow kiss. It’s wet, there’s tongue, and when Percy feels Nico’s shoulders shivering under his hands he never wants to stop. He does anyway. 

“Okay, fuck. Yes, please. Anything.” 

Nico smiles, and for a split second it’s more soft than predatory. Then it shifts back to the dark intensity of the rest of his face, and Percy smiles back. He fists the hem of Nico’s shirt at the waist and pulls until Nico has no choice to relent and let it slide off. 

“Okay, now anything.”

Nico smirks and goes back to hiding his face in Percy’s skin as he returns to his hips. The teeth grazing against his hip bones are driving Percy insane, and any thoughts he had about this being somehow not the right way for things to happen vanish, because he doesn’t see how anything could be wrong with the way Nico is sliding his boxers down to rest on the top of his jeans. 

After that, Nico doesn’t tease. He doesn’t make Percy wait, which is good because it’s been awhile and the buildup is torturous and unnecessary. His mouth is beyond hot and his hands clamp down on Percy’s hips, holding him _almost_ still because Percy cannot stop moving and Nico lets him, just a little bit, which only makes it worse. Percy tries to hold off, to keep himself inside that warm, wet, amazing feeling forever, but he can’t, he can’t, and when Nico’s eyes flick up to his, when his fingers dig in, it’s to tell Percy to _stop trying_ and all Percy can do is collapse and come and let the blinding light explode behind his eyes.

 

* * *

  

Sunlight streaming through the tiny windows in the hull wakes Percy up. He feels warm all over, and for once like he could stay in bed forever. It might be because his arm is wrapped around someone else, tight across hips that should feel bony but instead are perfect, and as soon as his head clears enough, Percy tries to look over at his guest as much as he can without moving, because Nico is _asleep_ and Percy probably only has seconds left. 

He’s not sure he’s ever seen Nico sleep before. It changes his whole face, bringing it closer to how he looked on the sunny water in Maine than how it’s been for the past several days. It only makes Percy want to stay in bed more, if he can keep Nico like his, relaxed, calm, and for a fleeting moment Percy thinks it might be nice if that was his purpose. Then Nico frowns and stirs and it’s over, but Percy is determined to keep this memory.

Nico rolls a little and Percy lets him, probably because now they’re face to face.

“You’re still here,” Percy whispers, kind of afraid that if he points it out Nico will realize it too and vanish. Nico nervously pushes his hair out of his face and grins.

“Yeah well, you wouldn’t let me leave. Didn’t take you for a cuddler.”

“You’re trying to make me feel bad about that and I’m telling you it just isn’t going to happen.”

Nico shakes his head and stretches, and Percy snakes an arm around his back and watches.

“I’m hungry.”

Percy laughs, “What, first I see you sleep, and now eating? Talk about ruining the mystery.”

Percy is finally coaxed out of bed by the promise of Nico actually consuming foods, and they get dressed quickly. Nico still won’t let Percy carry him back to shore, but he only shadow-travels to the sand so they walk across the Mist line together. Hazel isn’t there but it only takes a look from Nico for the camper in charge to let them by. It’s when they come over the crest of the hill that Percy notices something is odd.

There’s a crowd of people on the lawn in front of the Big House, and Percy can see Jason/Leo’s black truck on the road behind it. Percy heads towards the group, food temporarily forgotten, and half-registers that Nico is still following him, but hanging back a few feet. Percy can hear the noise from across the lawn, and it sounds more like happy chatter than a riot, so he keeps going. Campers start turning to him as he approaches, and then moving slightly out of the way to let him by. More curious than put off by the deference, he keeps walking, until he sees what – or who – is at the center of the group. 

Piper’s there, smiling happily, under the arm of a taller woman, tanned and beautiful, with curly blonde hair and a bright laugh. Percy meets gray eyes, and almost chokes on the name coming out of his mouth. 

“Annabeth.”

Annabeth’s smile thins a tiny bit, less exuberant and with more trepidation. She looks nervous, Percy thinks, and some ancient piece of his brain supplies that Annabeth should never look nervous. She removes her arm from Piper’s shoulders and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. 

“Hey, Percy,” she pauses, voice like a sigh, and if it quavers a bit when she continues, it’s probably only Percy who notices, “Come here, please.” 

And he’s being hugged. His arms know what to do instantly, wrapping around her narrow waist and pulling her close before he even has to think. Only his eyes aren’t getting with the program, because they find Nico, who’s standing to the side, arms crossed, frowning slightly, with all the peace from that morning gone from his face.

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Percy wants to drag her off, somewhere quiet, somewhere not in the middle of the whole camp, which seems every bit as overjoyed to have Annabeth back as they were star-struck to have Percy. To be fair, Annabeth is smiling and introducing herself and being generally personable, and Percy… well, he knows he wasn’t any of those things. She’s just so much more accessible, and unfortunately, that means they all get dragged into the Big House to talk shop immediately. Percy just doesn’t want to share her, doesn’t want anyone else around when he hears about where she’s been, _how_ she’s been, while he stares at her and tries to think of some way, if it’s even possible, to apologize.

Annabeth gets a good jump on the briefing with Chiron, the second everyone, Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Nico hanging awkwardly in the back, gets assembled in the sitting room, by leveling a good dry stare at the camp director and saying,

“You know I already know, right? So you can skip bringing me up to speed part of this conversation and jump straight into the what we’re going to do about it so Percy- so we can _all_ go home.” 

She sounds every bit as annoyed with Chiron as Percy is on a daily basis, and the rest of Percy’s brain, the parts not occupied with feeling warm and self-satisfied about this, realize this doesn’t make any sense. He doesn’t know exactly when she left for Greece, but he knows it wasn’t within the past year (she and his mom keep in touch, apparently). What he doesn’t know is why she’s suddenly back. 

“If you knew, why come back now?” Chiron asks, his voice short but not as outwardly condescending as usual. Apparently he can’t manage to be as rude to Annabeth as he’s been normally. Percy wants to hurt him for insinuating that any of this is her responsibility, but he also _really_ wants to know the answer to the question. 

“For some reason, I thought you could handle this without us,” she gestures to the crowd of grown-up demigods in the room, “In fact, I think I encouraged you to handle it without us. However, with the complete halt in recruitment, and given the news reports, it’s clear that hasn’t happened. You’re out of your depth.” 

Percy wants to know how she knew about the recruitment, too, but not as much as he wants to remember Chiron’s next words for the next time he’s pissed off.

“You’re right,” he says, head lowered, “I am. If the Camp gets through this, there will be changes. I will make changes. But first, we need to get through this.” 

Annabeth seems satisfied enough with that response. Jason clears his throat,

“Percy and I took a trip to see Rachel yesterday.”

Chiron raises his eyebrows, but Annabeth looks to Percy.

“And?”

Percy sighs, “The reason you weren’t getting prophecies, the reason there was no warning, is somehow her father managed to obstruct her sight. I think he’s controlling the Mist around her – he might even be the reason it’s receding in the first place. Either way, she can’t help us.”

Annabeth’s face falls, and gods, Percy wants to put his arm around her, comfort her, _something_ , but before he can talk himself into it, Jason adds,

“He’s got to be keeping an eye on her, monitoring her computer, movements, everything. Percy says he owns the building, and several others in the area. That might tell us where he is.”

Leo rolls his eyes, “And why do we need to know where he is, Jason? Could it be that someone is planning on running in, fists swinging?”

“I think we should do it,” Nico finally speaks. All heads turn, and he continues, quietly enough that Percy has to strain to hear him, “Not quite so boorishly, perhaps, but whatever Dare’s plan is, whatever his motives are, checking out his facility will tell us. We know they’re planning to move on the camp, if they can find it again, and finding out the timeframe for that will help us prepare.”

Percy watches Nico as he speaks. He almost never blinks, manages to make eye contact with no one, and there’s a small quirk to his lips that makes Percy think data-gathering isn’t the only thing on his mind. Annabeth distracts him from this train of thought.

“We need more information, but we can’t leave Camp totally defenseless either. Chiron, do you have any younger campers that are prepared in the case of an attack?” 

Chiron nods, “Some, that were recruited before the freeze. Still, our makeshift barrier won’t survive the full force of whatever DHS is planning to throw at us. Even with Hazel leading.”

“The others are improving, but the barrier is shaky at best,” Hazel frowns, “and we won’t be able to keep this up 24/7 forever. I’m surprised we’ve made it this long.”

“Are we going to talk about the bigger issue here, though?” Leo asks. Percy has never seen him look so concerned about anything. “Us all getting arrested, getting forced into some demigod registry? Who knows what logic that’s going to be based on. Don’t think any of us with more, um, _offensive_ powers will ever see the sky again. Everyone in this room is pretty much toast.”

“If we fix the Mist we fix the exposure problem. It’ll be back to looking like you’re holding a Nerf gun making ‘pew-pew’ noises in no time,” Nico says calmly.

“That’s only if I’m right about the source of the problem,” Percy interjects. Nico raises his eyebrows.

“Second-guessing your own opinions already, Jackson? What, did you change your mind?” Jason says dryly. Percy feels his face burning, alleviated only somewhat by the fact that Nico is looking downright murderous at Jason. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly even, which really just makes him all the more terrifying.

“Either way, Grace, there’s only one way to find out.”

 

* * *

 

It’s not until after dinner that Percy manages to get Annabeth alone. She’s swarmed by her cabin-mates, monopolized by Piper, sidetracked by everyone from Chiron to Hazel. Then again, maybe it just seems that way, because every time Percy has a chance to snag her, he finds himself doing something else, either keeping it professional and talking strategy with her and Jason, or avoiding her entirely in favor of talking shop with Leo about what kind of devices they might need to break into a high-security building. Percy isn’t sure, but he thinks he may have actually run away at one point when he saw her crossing the lawn.

Nico is nowhere to be found.

At least Jason seems to have gotten over his impulse to make passive-aggressive remarks, Percy thinks, grateful for the small reprieve. The last Nico sighting was him arguing with Jason, and while Percy doubts there was any real resolution to be found, at least whatever Nico threatened him with seems to have worked. Percy and Jason bounced ideas off each other for most of the afternoon about the plan with only the bare minimum of awkward pauses and shifting glances. 

It’s after dinner when Annabeth clearly gets tired of waiting and comes to Percy. He feels a firm hand on his arm and turns to see her smiling softly down at him. 

“Alright, Percy, let’s go. I hear you’ve got a boat stashed around here somewhere that you’re camping out on.”

“Well, it may be a slightly more permanent living situation than that…”

So they make their way down to the dock and sit at the end, legs dangling over the side, staring at _Anaklusmos_ over the glassy water. Percy is firmly torn between wanting to show Annabeth the boat and wanting to keep this conversation on neutral ground. They talk about everything and nothing, his boat, her time in Greece, how they’ve been. He tries desperately to make her many words equal the two most important ones, the “I’m happy” that is so obviously missing from the conversation. Finally, he asks the one thing that’s been bugging him all day.

“Why are you back? Really.”

Annabeth looks sideways at him, and he can see she’s surprised by the question.

“Nico asked me to come.”

Percy gapes at her and she chuckles a little.

“Clearly, he didn’t tell you. Sorry, I didn’t realize that he didn’t until I got here and it was too late to warn you. I should’ve been more specific in my terms.”

“He probably just would’ve ignored them.”

She considers this briefly, “Maybe.”

“So, you just flew back because of one phone call?”

She frowns, “No, I flew back because he said you needed my help.”

Percy flushes, and she continues offhandedly,

“And it was an in-person visit.” 

This brings Percy up short. 

“He, what- _in person_?”

Annabeth laughs, “Yeah, I was a bit surprised myself. Just showed up on my doorstep night before last, and now here I am. I have to say, I wasn’t exactly expecting to be back here any time soon.” 

 _That makes two of us_ , Percy thinks, but instead he says,

“Yeah well, he makes a pretty compelling argument,” and curses how faint his voice sounds.

Annabeth just smiles, “True, but it’s more what he doesn’t say.”

Percy changes the subject, sort of.

“So… you seemed pretty, um, _annoyed_ with Chiron this morning.”

Annabeth frowns, “Isn’t everyone?”

“Yes,” Percy laughs, “but I like knowing it isn’t just me all the same. What was that about?” 

“Well, considering he asked for my advice and then went right ahead and ignored it, I don’t see any reason to be friendly.”

Percy looks sideways, studies her profile.

“Advice, about what?”

“About you.”

“Wow, is _that_ starting to make me uncomfortable.” 

She smiles, but without her usual warmth in it, it’s a grimace, “He iris-messaged me, a few months ago. Wanted you back, I guess he thought I had the best shot of convincing you.”

“Wait, but then Nico got sent instead…?”

Her smile breaks into a humorless laugh, “Yeah, well, that’s probably because I told Chiron to go to hell.”

Percy knows, _knows_ he has absolutely no grounds to be hurt over this, but…

“What, didn’t want to see me?”

The look he gets in return is so flat it makes Percy squirm.

“Don’t be stupid. I didn’t want him dragging you into this. I said you’d gotten out, you deserved to be left alone. He wasn’t pleased, but I had back-up.” 

“Back-up?”

Annabeth raises her eyebrows.

“Did you come down here by boat?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with-“

“Have any trouble?”

Percy remembers the storm, the huge waves breaking over the bow of _Anaklusmos_ , Nico’s face, downright worried, flickering between the ocean and the sky.

“I thought he… Poseidon, was mad at me for leaving.”

“No, Percy. He was trying to stop you from going back.”

Percy can’t meet her eyes anymore, so he stares out over the water instead. It certainly isn’t showing any signs of the horrible weather from that trip, glassy calm reflecting the nearly full moon perfectly. After a long time, Percy sighs. 

“So, if you didn’t want me back here, why’d you listen to Nico this time?”

He wonders if Annabeth notices the way his voice cracks every time he mentions his name. Annabeth responds like she doesn’t.

“Like I said, it’s more about what he doesn’t say,” she says, but then frowns, “and it seemed like maybe you weren’t the only one who needed some help.” 

Percy doesn’t know why, after avoiding the issue with Jason, he suddenly wants to talk about it with Annabeth, who might be the world’s most awkward choice for a confidant on this issue.

“Did Nico, um… mention, what’s been going on with him and, uh, me, at all?” 

This time, Annabeth’s laugh is warmer, kinder. 

“I may have pieced it together. How’s that going?” 

“Well…” Percy trails off, then shakes his head, “I think it’s yet another thing where I’ll be the last to know. Gods, remember when we thought he had a crush on you?” 

Annabeth smirks and raises an eyebrow, clearly waiting, as she so often used to, for Percy to realize that he’s missing something obvious. 

“Oh. _Oh._ You knew? The whole time?”

She nods, and sighs, folding her arms over her knees and staring out at the bay again. 

“I figured Nico’d have an easier time with you being jealous than if you were sympathetic.”

He sincerely hopes he never would’ve reacted to Nico’s feelings with sympathy, but you never know, and now just the thought of it makes him cringe.

“I was never jealous,” Percy says suddenly, but it’s true, even if the realization is startling, “It never bothered me.”

Annabeth smiles, turning her head to survey him with curiosity that makes Percy feel a little warm.

“I always said everyone should give you more credit. That included me, apparently, and I think I understand better now.” 

Percy snorts, running his hands roughly over his face and taking a deep breath that offers no relief.

“Yeah well, that makes one of us.”

She smiles wider, and seems content to leave Percy to his confusion. Fortunately, he’s got a wealth of things to be confused about.

“Are you… do you think we’re ready, for tomorrow?”

Annabeth’s smile flips instantly. 

“If everything goes according to plan, sure.” 

“When has everything ever gone according to plan?”

She shakes her head gently, looking back over the water. 

“I just hope… whatever happens, I hope we don’t make things worse.”

 

* * *

  

The next day is busy, almost too busy for Percy to notice the tense awkwardness that seems to surround him wherever he goes. He spends most of the morning getting gear together with Jason. Apparently Leo and Annabeth stayed up late into the night throwing last-minute tech together, so when Annabeth stops by (Piper en tow) to see how the loading process is going, Percy stows the heavy black otter box in his arms and gives her a one-armed hug in thanks. For his gratitude he gets a face from Jason with a lot of raised eyebrows, which in turn earns Jason a hard smack on the arm from Piper. For some reason, this makes Jason smile. 

Percy can’t decide whether he’s supposed to apologize or get angry, but Jason saves him the trouble of picking one.

“Adulthood is fucking complicated. If I’d have known, I would’ve worked harder on that whole dying during my adolescence thing.”

Percy’s so shocked that he laughs, and Jason joins in.

“Hey, you gave it your best shot.”

Still, Nico seems to have vanished entirely, and by late afternoon Percy’s almost convinced he’s not going to show up at all. At this point, Percy figures he should’ve known that skepticism is like the Nico-signal painted across the sky. 

“Ready to go?” a voice in Percy’s ear says as he sits on the steps of his cabin, looking over blueprints on a sleek black tablet. Annabeth loaned it to him with the explanation that she’d memorized it already.

“How did you even- you know what, never mind. And what do you mean am _I_ ready to go? Where have you even been all day?”

Nico sits heavily on the step next to him, leaning back on his hands and shrugging.

“Staying out of the way.”

Percy knows he’s taking far too long to respond to this latest enigmatic comment, but he can’t help it. Staring at Nico seems to be his default setting these days, and now he’s got flashing images of the last time they were alone to mix with the picture Nico now presents, stretched out on the steps of Cabin #3. Finally Percy gets his voice back. 

“Well that was stupid.”

Nico scoffs disbelievingly and Percy can’t resist reaching over and crossing his fingers with Nico’s, just the last two, just enough to be touching and yet completely invisible to anyone who might walk by. Nico’s hand twitches violently, but he doesn’t pull away, instead turning his neck so sharply that Percy feels his own go sore as Nico’s eyes bore into his. 

“What I don’t get is… why’d you go get her, if you were going to disappear after?” Percy asks quietly. Nico’s response is even softer.

“You need her. We need her. There are decisions you’ll have to make… I don’t know if I’m the right person to help anymore.”

Percy is already shaking his head when Nico adds,

“You missed her.” 

Percy laughs lightly, dropping his head for a moment before bringing his eyes back to Nico’s. 

“You know, you’re not nearly as selfish as you claim.”

Nico’s brow furrows, “What do you mean?”

And because there is no one walking by, because it’s nearly dusk and everyone’s at dinner or loading cars or planning for the next death-defying feat in store for them, and because he can, Percy slides his hand up Nico’s arm to cup his neck and leans in to kiss him firmly. Percy waits for Nico’s mouth to soften against his, waits for the little shiver and the wonderful pressure of cool skin that means walls are crumbling, before he pulls away and smiles. He wonders why he suddenly feels like the weight’s been lifted off his chest, like he can take a full breath again.

“Like I said, stupid.”

Nico huffs an annoyed laugh and then looks a little uncomfortable.

“Speaking of, uh, me going to get Annabeth in Greece…” 

“Hey! Lovebirds!”

Percy’s head snaps up to see Jason striding across the lawn, hands in his pockets, wearing the most childish grin someone in black fatigues can pull off. Nico makes a noise that might almost be classified as a growl, which makes Percy feel a little lightheaded all of a sudden.

“Grace, make up your mind. Either you are trying to force us together or trying to cock-block me at every turn, it honestly doesn’t matter which for all the difference it’ll make, but pick one or I am going to hurt you.” 

Percy lets out the most unattractive snort of his short life, probably not the usual response to a Nico di Angelo death threat. Jason looks completely unperturbed by either the threat or Nico’s mastery of vulgar slang.

“Yes, I hope you do, I am honestly starting to annoy myself, but in the meantime, it’s time to go.”

 

* * *

  

The ride into the city is tense. The seating arrangements are much the same, except Annabeth pointedly sits next to Jason in the middle seat and shoots a smile back at Percy that’s completely devious. Nico’s head flips back and forth between them in a cartoonish way before he heaves a much put upon sigh and sits in the back, as far on the edge of the bench seat as possible. Annabeth just rolls her eyes and turns around. 

Relatively unbothered by Nico’s distance, or the silence of the car, Percy looks out the window and watches the buildings get denser and denser as they near Manhattan under cover of dusk. He recognizes a few spots, and realizes how long he’s been in town without calling his mother. _After this, after tonight I will_ , he thinks. He realizes she’s probably seen him on the news, a wanted man once again. She’s definitely going to have his head. Then, Nico’s leaning over the seat to listen to something Annabeth’s saying, and Percy sees the rare chance to stare at the two of them together, so he takes it and stops thinking about much else.

It’s after 11pm when they arrive, a few blocks down from the building most likely to be Mr. Dare’s base of operations. It’s a long shot, Percy knows, even getting the right building, and then they have to find any and all information useful to them as it’s spread out over 30 floors, without getting caught. He’s gotten lucky in the past, though. He feels his heart racing as Leo kills the ignition and turns around to grin at them. For Leo, it’s a somber expression.

“Alright. Go time. Annabeth, you’ve got the backpack. Should have any and all tech required. Earpieces in, everyone?”

Percy checks his out of habit as Nico says,

“I’m going to have to bring people inside in batches. Percy and Annabeth, you’re with me first. Jason, I’ll be back for you.”

Jason nods and smiles at Piper.

“McLean, you’ve got the conn.”

“Oh, don’t I know it, Grace.” 

Piper’s grin is the last thing Percy sees before his world dissolves.

They appear in the basement, and the first thing Percy sees are endless black crates with an elaborate circular logo and “DARE ENTERPRISES” printed in huge letters on the sides. He almost wants to laugh as he nudges Annabeth.

“Think we might be in the right place.”

She nods and smiles, but her mouth is tight at the corners. It’s Annabeth’s game face, the one that always got Percy to (mostly) stop goofing around on missions. Beside them, Nico takes a deep breath, bracing himself as he says,

“Alright. Wait here, I’ll be back with Jason.”

His brow furrows in concentration and the shadows bend towards him, spinning around his arms and legs, but he doesn’t disappear. Annabeth’s eyes widen.

“Uh, Nico?”

Nico’s face darkens in a way that has nothing to do with shadows. The dark of the room spins more, making Percy dizzy, but still nothing happens. 

“What the fuck is this,” Nico spits. Percy can’t help it.

“Performance anxiety?”

If not for the sudden buzz of the conn in their ears, Percy feels like he might’ve gotten himself punched. 

“Nico, where are you? We need to move the car into better radio location,” Piper’s voice crackles in their ears. Nico growls, pinching the bridge of his nose, and whispers. 

“I can’t get back out.”

There’s a long silence. No response from Piper, no comment from anyone as they realize what Percy cannot help but say aloud.

“Well, now we definitely know we’re in the right place.”

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork for this chapter: http://grell-e.deviantart.com/art/PJO-Riptide-5-477026361

“Guys you need to get out of there now,” Piper’s voice finally breaks the silence. She sounds calm but concerned. 

Annabeth pulls the tablet out of her backpack. 

“I’m pulling up the floor plan now,” she says quickly, fingers flying over the screen, “We’ll determine the safest possible exit on the ground floor and rendezvous with-“

“No,” Percy says sharply. Annabeth and Nico stare at him, but where Annabeth looks shocked, Nico just looks curious. Percy clears his throat.

“No, we continue on. This cannot be a total loss, camp could be invaded any day now.”

“Percy,” Annabeth says, exasperated, “Dare clearly knows we’re coming, why else would he put some sort of teleportation-block on the building. This is a trap-“ 

“If he put a block on Nico, then he clearly thinks we shouldn’t be able to get into the building at all, right?” Percy interrupts, eyes flickering to Nico, who says nothing.

“Or he just waited for us to get inside to trap us in here. We need to find a way out and regroup.”

“If it’s a trap and he can keep Nico from shadow-traveling us all back outside, you really think he can’t stop us from going through the front door? We’re probably stuck in here either way, we might as well make the most of it.”

“The ‘most of it’ isn’t going to amount to much if we never make it out of the building-“

“I agree with Percy,” Nico finally speaks, quietly but both Percy and Annabeth stop arguing to listen to him, “We aren’t going to get another chance. A better look at the building might reveal another means of exit. We should continue on.”

There’s an odd look on his face as he says it, and Annabeth’s brow furrows deeply, but Percy decides to take what he can get. He presses his earpiece,

“Piper, move the car within wireless transfer range, in case you need to send us something,” he says, privately adding _if that’s even still an option_. Nothing is more disconcerting than having Nico agree with him about something, even if the guy’s self-preservation has come leaps and bounds since adolescence. 

“Guess we’re taking the stairs - without Jason, we’re useless for elevator shafts,” Nico says, leaning over Annabeth’s shoulder to survey the maps. Annabeth finally smiles.

“No, we’re not. We’ll just have to do things the old-fashioned way.”

 

* * *

 

Even with the weight-compensators Leo designed as a backup plan, the climb up the elevator shaft is arduous. Annabeth had allowed barely a minute of bickering about the order they would go in before latching in first, and now Percy finds himself between her and Nico, a hundred feet up on a lift cable with nothing to do switch off between staring at Annabeth ahead of him and checking over his shoulder to make sure Nico hasn’t fallen off. On what feels like his 50th check, Nico is smirking. Percy rolls his eyes and looks up again, but that doesn’t stop him from hearing Nico’s snicker.

“ _Gods_ \- what, Nico?” he whispers, heaving himself up another two feet of wire.

“Enjoying the view, Jackson?” 

Percy heaves a sigh and rolls his eyes, which unfortunately (or fortunately) puts Annabeth’s backside front and center once again.

“Oh, like you aren’t,” he says off-handedly, not putting much thought into the retort.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

Percy pauses for a moment.

“Wait, which view are you talking about? Because I was talking about, well, not _me_ , obviously…”

When he turns back, Nico just shrugs. Percy’s eyes widen and he feels himself grinning broadly. He (half) jokes,

“Wait, really? Because I thought… hey, what did happen in Greece?”

“Oh, for _Gods_ sake – I can hear you both, you know, and as much as what happened in Greece is sure to fascinate me, we’ve reached R&D and if you don’t stop talking I will be forced to drop you.”

Percy can’t help but smile up at Annabeth, who just huffs and turns back to shorting out the lock on the elevator door without demagnetizing their climbing cable. Percy decides to take the drop threat seriously and waits in silence. After a moment, there’s a loud _ka-thunk_ of the lock mechanism disengaging, and they don’t fall to their deaths. Percy heaves himself through the entry after Annabeth, turning to extend an arm that Nico reluctantly takes.  

They’ve emerged into a long, dark hallway, wide enough that it wouldn’t be a complete travesty to fight through, but also distinctly lacking in any kind of cover or screen to hide behind. Percy takes the lead, pen in one hand, flashlight in the other, and takes the distance at a light run. Annabeth is close behind him. 

“Leo’s blueprints suggest the far door leads to the main workroom, possibly the data servers. Plus the fact that this floor is in the middle of several not on the public record, survey says we’ll find something here.”

“I’m so glad you memorized the map.”

“Yeah well, running with a tablet, recipe for disaster. As is breaking into a secure facility and setting off a trap when you don’t even know what you’re looking for.”

Percy feels his grin harden on his face.

“I have a feeling we’ll know it when we see it.”

They come to a halt at the door, Nico standing off to Annabeth’s left, possibly even quieter than usual. Percy tries not to dwell as he calls it in, staring at the keypad to the right of the door.

“Alright, Piper. Attaching the device now. Leo’s up.”

“Percy I have been up since two days ago do not insinuate that I have not been up,” Leo’s voice sounds in his ear. Percy sighs and takes the heavy clamp-like device Annabeth is handing to him. He aligns it over the keypad and folds the lever, listening for the charge that indicates it’s sealed to the wall. He steps back next to Nico and waits.

“Alright, one highly secure door lock combination coming right up.” 

A grin laser grid appears over the keypad, spinning and aligning its pinpoints on the 10-digit pad. It flashes a few times, then 5 keys illuminate in sequence. The door clicks open. 

“I am the greatest.” 

Annabeth detaches the device, but Percy is already through the door. He goes immediately to check his corners, but it turns out, there are no corners to check. He’s standing in a small room with a fore wall made entirely of glass, looking out over one of the biggest indoor spaces he’s ever seen.

“Guys…”

Annabeth and Nico follow him in, and for a moment, they all stand at the windows, staring. 

One side of the room is all conveyer belts and industrial robots. There’s a complex assembly line, each piece performing some minute function on small metal contraptions that fly by on the belts. Sparks fly as huge machines weld and solder small pieces together to make larger pieces, which then seem to be fixed onto scaffolds shaped like remote controls, or satellite dishes, or machine guns. The belt with the most finished-looking devices whisks them away through the sidewall, off to another room. 

The other side of the room would seem dull by comparison, if not for the noise. The entire right wall is lined, floor to nearly invisible ceiling, with cages. The floor is subdivided into buildings the size of trailers, all shining steel, with small, barred windows. Overall, it looks like a typical, if modern, warehouse, except for the sounds coming from the cages and the containers. Roars of every kind, screeching, shrieking, and the sound of claws on metal and flesh sound from every angle, combining with the industrial soundtrack on the left make Percy want to cover his ears.

Nico frowns deeply at the sight, and when Percy finally speaks, it’s mostly to him,

“What the hell is Dare playing at?”

Nico just shakes his head, but Annabeth interjects, 

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling this is only part of it. Nothing here seems to involve the Mist. We need to figure out where we’re going next.”

Percy nods, “Yeah, we’ve stayed here too long.”

He heads for the door on the far end of the platform, Annabeth and Nico tailing him, with Annabeth whispering rapidly to Piper, dragging her feet as she surveys the massive warehouse one last time. Percy’s through the door when he feels, more than hears, the grind of metal on metal beneath his feet. A digitized voice sounds overhead:

“ _Engaging fire doors in three… two… one…_ ” 

Percy turns as he steps through the doorway, just in time to see that it’s too late for him to do anything. The sound of a massive piston firing fills his ears, and he looks from Annabeth to Nico, meeting Nico’s eyes just in time to see the decision in them. A massive red door swings towards them at what must be roughly the speed of sound, because everything is suddenly silent as Percy watches Nico reach behind him to grab Annabeth’s arm, flinging her into Percy, both of them stumbling backwards out of the room. The door clips Nico’s outstretched arm with a horrible crack. The last thing Percy sees is Nico’s body propelled from the impact towards the plate glass wall before the door slams shut, deafening him with a heavy metal clang and the sudden return of noise to the universe.

“Nico!” 

The sound of heavy boots on metal immediately fills his ears, coming from the opposite side the wall that’s now between him and Nico. He thinks, hopes, he hears someone stagger to his feet, maybe get a sword out to face the first guard, and the second, even the third, until there’s the heavy thump of a nightstick colliding with a jaw or a temple and a body hitting a steel floor.

“Nico! Nico!” Percy shouts, fingers trying to make purchase on the smooth red steel of the door. Annabeth pulls him back. 

“Percy, quiet!” she hisses, “There’s nothing we can do!”

He falls silent as voices come from the other side. 

“Laid it on him a little thick, didn’t ya?” one man says. 

“Nah, it’ll take more than that to kill this one, look,” says the second. Percy hears the scuff of a boot, maybe a kick. No response, just the dull thud of foot to flesh

“Detainment level?” says the first.

“No, he’s wanted upstairs. Special orders.”

“What about the other one?”

“Find him. Search floors bottom to top. No one gets out. No one.” 

Percy makes up his mind as they strain their ears for the sounds of boots clomping away, dragging something behind them. He turns to Annabeth.

“They don’t know you’re here. Get out, meet up with Piper, head back to camp-“

Annabeth cuts him off, “No, are you crazy? We’ve just lost Nico, I’m not about to leave you behind. We both need to get out _now_.” 

Percy feels anger and guilt build in his chest. 

“I haven’t _lost_ Nico. I am not leaving here without him.” 

“That’s what he’d want you to do. You are Dare’s play. He catches you, he’ll be rounding up demigods by tomorrow. Nico would want you to get as far away from here as possible.” 

“Are those his words, or yours?” Percy hisses. Annabeth flushes, but from Percy’s obstinacy or frustration, it’s impossible to say.

“We agree on this issue.” 

“Yeah well, since when do we do what Nico wants? What he wants is usually insane and involves him sacrificing himself so that everyone else can go on living meaningless lives without him-“ 

“Your life hasn’t been meaningless, Percy,” Annabeth whispers.

Percy doesn’t reply. He turns and runs down the hall, not bothering to be quiet, and from the sounds of Annabeth’s feet behind him, he’s not the only one who realizes their cover is well and truly blown. She makes one more attempt.

“Percy, you’re playing right into your fatal flaw, you know. Which I’m sure Dare knows about if he’s been getting information from Rachel.”

Percy reaches the door to the stairwell. He digs into his pocket for one of the portable demagnetizers Leo gave him and sticks it to the door. He uses Riptide to pry the door open, before turning back to Annabeth. She looks sad. He doesn’t feel anything except anger and determination.

“Yeah, well, good thing I don’t consider ‘sacrificing the world to save a friend’ to be a flaw. Especially not if it’s this world.”

 

* * *

 

The stairs are endless. Percy knows his legs are probably screaming, muscles cramping and refusing to take one more step, but he can’t feel it. He’s battle-charged like he’s never felt before, and he hasn’t even killed anyone yet. It doesn’t matter. After each flight they conquer, there is only the next floor, the next level, one step closer. The periodic sounds of footsteps below them might as well be miles away for it matters to him. 

“You sure about this?” Annabeth asks at one point, chest heaving, “I mean, the guard said ‘upstairs’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean-“

“Think about it,” Percy says shortly, “You saw him on the news, heard his little speech, his big reveal. The guy’s got a serious flare for the dramatic. If you were him, where do you think you’d interrogate your prime witness?”

Percy knows if he’s worked it out, Annabeth probably had it figured months ago. He knows she’s just trying to unsettle him, make him question his plan. It won’t work.

“I don’t think Nico is a witness,” she finally replies. Percy dwells on this for a few more floors. He’s about to give in and ask her to explain herself when suddenly, they reach the top of the stairs. Looking at each other, they both sit on the top step simultaneously, gasping. Annabeth pulls out the tablet.

“According to this, we’re in the far west stairwell. Dare’s office runs along the entire south front of the building, but there only entrance that won’t be alarmed is here-“ she points “- and we are way down here.”

“That entrance is going to put us right in the middle of what is probably a well-lit room.”

“I know,” Annabeth replies, smiling slightly, “that’s why I think we should use the ventilation shafts.”

Percy raises his eyebrows. 

“The vents? Really?”

Annabeth shrugs, still smiling, “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“Removing the panel will probably trip a security alarm.”

“We’ve got an app for that.”

“You sure know how to show a guy a good time.”

They disarm the door to the hall, Percy prying it open with his sword to let Annabeth through, and slipping past behind her. The ceiling in the hall is predictable white paneling. Percy goes to give Annabeth a leg up, but she stops him. 

“First we deal with the alarm.” 

She removes a small device from her backpack. It looks like a tiny metal cube, but there’s a blinking green light on one side. Annabeth’s fingers fly over the tablet screen.

“That stops the grid from notifying security about the breach?”

She nods, “But it’s disposable, one-time use for about 10 minutes. That’s why I didn’t bring it out before, since you’re about to ask.”

Percy shrugs, “No point, they knew we were here anyway. Doubt there were any alarms to trip until the fire doors went off.” 

Annabeth gives him a small smile and presses a button. The light turns from blinking green to solid red. Percy kneels down and wraps his arms around her thighs, hoisting her up. She slides the panel aside and grabs an insulated pipe over their heads, pulling herself up. Between her offered arm and the pipe, Percy manages to climb in after her.

After that, it’s quick work getting to Dare’s office. Getting by the obstructive panels makes a little more noise than Percy would’ve preferred in that it’s just shy of totally silent, but the office is huge and there’s no sign they’ve been discovered. It’s a couple more yards worth of crawling before Annabeth points to the upcoming air vent. Light is coming through it. At the next one, the night is brighter, and there are voices.

“Are you sure it’s one of… _them_ , Warren?”

Percy crawls ahead to the next vent, peering down into the room below. Annabeth sidles up next to him, and they just about press their faces to the grate. 

“Obviously. Here, allow me to prove it to you.”

Percy can see two men below him. One is Mr. Dare. The other looks familiar, and it takes Percy a moment to realize he knows the guy, mostly from his face on the news over the past few days. The Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Mitchell Reinhart.

They’re both facing a third person, strapped to an upright gurney, head drooping towards his chest. Nico. Percy can already see a bruise spreading over the side of his face.

Dare turns away, picking up a long object from a nearby table. A knife, glinting bronze in the low office lighting. 

“This is celestial bronze, Mitchell,” Dare says quietly, “Harmless to us, but quite the opposite to them, I assure you. Observe.”

Dare wraps his fingers around the edge of the blade, clenches his hand, pulls the knife free. The deputy flinches, but before he can react further, Dare reveals his hand – completely undamaged.

“Now, on a demigod…”

Percy’s whole body tenses, but he feels Annabeth’s hand on his arm, holding him back before he’s even started to move. Dare advances on Nico, gripping his hair in one hand, and pulling his head back. Percy sees Nico’s eyes are open, surveying Dare without expression. Dare presses the knife to Nico’s cheek, almost gently. When he pulls it across the skin, a thick red line of blood wells up after it. Nico doesn’t respond, doesn’t even flinch.

“Yes, but Warren… a _demigod_? Surely you know how ridiculous that sounds, will sound to the department-“

“Damn the department. I have waited too long. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter what you call it, you see the truth before you. He is a threat. They are all a threat.”

For a second, Reinhart looks like he will question Dare.

“I can’t go to the Secretary with what you just showed me. Could be a trick, a setup-“ 

Dare grabs Nico’s face, prying the cut on his cheekbone apart with his thumb. Blood flows more freely, and finally, Percy hears a faint hiss from Nico’s mouth. 

“Say what you will to your secretary, Reinhart. Lie, speak the truth, it makes no difference to me, so long as I have his support, he will have mine. But do not say it is a trick.”

Reinhart winces, taking a subconscious step back.

“Alright, alright. I’ll do what I can. In any case, after today, we’ll likely have all the evidence we need. I need to check in with the away team. I’ll have my men come in and book him?” 

He gestures to Nico. Dare surveys Nico for a moment, and shakes his head.

“Leave him with me.”

Reinhart hesitates.

“Warren, you know protocol mandates that I make a formal arrest here.” 

“I know what protocol mandates. I also know I said to leave him with me. I need this one.”

Percy can see the exact moment where Reinhart folds.

“If you insist. Try not to make a mess, it’ll be harder to not file the paperwork.”

Warren just smiles and nods. Reinhart turns away, shoes clicking along the wooden floor as he leaves the room. Warren waits until the door clicks shut before turning back to Nico.

“Well, well. Finally we are alone.”

The stream of blood across Nico’s cheek is slowing, but Percy can't stop staring at it. Nico’s eyes follow Dare as he moves across the room.

“I see no need for fanfare or suspense. I will give you a short tour, and then you will so kindly aid me in a little experiment I’ve been running.”

Dare reaches his desk where he sets the knife down and opens a panel over the left side drawers. There’s a keypad, and he quickly punches in a long series of numbers. Percy feels the vent he’s in vibrate and shift. Suddenly, the room is descending, like this end of Dare’s office is one massive elevator. The walls pull away as they are lowered down on a massive winch, Percy and Annabeth in the vents, Nico, Dare, and a singular armed guard in the room itself.

Before long, the metal walls of the shaft they are lowered through give way to empty space, and Percy recognizes that they’re back in the warehouse room, suspended some forty feet below the floor. Dare’s office becomes a private view of his whole operation.

“A neat trick, no? I like to keep an eye on how things are progressing. I’m sure you’ve seen my photos of your camp, your friends. Close surveillance, it keeps me abreast of the goings on, which I appreciate.”

The room has stopped adjacent to another platform. Percy barely noticed in on their first perusal of the room as it housed a lone metal container, a tube-like canister about 10 feet high, with several computer monitors set up next to it. Compared to the endless sprawl of conveyer belts and snarling cages in the rest of the warehouse, the chamber seems innocuous. It looks more interesting from up close, the whole thing teaming with wires and dials and antennas. From this distance, Percy can see a door etched in the side, with a faint light emitting from its edges. 

“Speaking of your friends,” Dare says offhandedly, surveying Nico with his hands in the pockets of his dark suit, “when will Mr. Jackson be joining us? I confess I had originally hoped to share this special moment with him personally, but with all I’ve heard about you, yes, I think you’ll make a more than suitable replacement, Mr. di Angelo.

“Do you have a good view from your seat? Can you see my entire operation? It’s simple, almost too simple really. I expected your ‘camp’ to throw up a bit more of a challenge, I’m afraid, but once that feeble centaur started leaving his recruits around for me to pick up, I had all the fodder I needed.”

“What have you done with the demigods you captured?” Nico asks, and Percy feels a rush of intense relief at hearing his voice, quiet as it is. Dare laughs lightly.

“They’re here. Not _here_ here, of course, but in another facility. Most of them weren’t as sturdy as I’d hoped, I’m running quite low, but again, I think I’ll fare far better with you. For starters, you’ve already lived through worse.

“You see, it all began with a machine. This machine, to be precise. A way of showing the world what I could see with my own eyes. If that idiot-child Percy Jackson thought he could steal my daughter right out from under my nose and suffer no consequence, well, he’s an even bigger fool than I suspected. It’s a rare mortal that can bend the Mist, but did you never stop to consider it might be genetic?”

“Rachel has saved hundreds of lives, stopped wars before they began, ended others. You would undo that?” Nico asks.

“In a second. Saved your lives, surely, but for what? Don’t tell me you still think it all was worth it. That _your_ losses were worth it?”

Nico doesn’t respond. Dare grins at him.

“In truth, I feel sorry for Jackson. I’ve followed his life for sometime, watched him make countless sacrifices for gods that would sooner have him dead. I wonder, if he ever hesitated, ever questioned his purpose. Perhaps when he had to kill his own brother, the monster, in the last war?” 

Nico tenses. Percy feels his body go numb. 

“Isn’t that right, Jackson?” Dare shouts to the empty space, with just a hint of mania in his voice, “When Gaea took control of the Cyclopes and you alone stood against them, did that give you pause? I suppose it must’ve, since you all but vanished afterwards. Were it not for young Nico here, I might never have found you!” 

It isn’t until the fingers between his squeeze that Percy realizes Annabeth had taken his hand. She whispers into his ear,

“He knows you’re here. We need to move. I can take out the guard. On my signal, you go for Nico.”

She fishes her famous Yankees hat out of her bag and slips it on her head before Percy can unstick his jaw to ask what the signal will be. Maybe he’ll know it when he sees it.

Dare smooths the front of his suit quickly, collecting himself, before turning back to Nico, composed.

“Anyway, it no longer matters. I’ll burn your camp to the ground for what you’ve done to my daughter. It’s already begun, all I had to do was lure you out. Rounding up the rest of your friends, well, that’s just dessert.” 

He walks up to Nico, starts untying the ropes holding him to the gurney. 

“The device needs fine-tuning, I’ll admit. Finding a way to channel my own ability to shift the Mist into a statewide, perhaps nationwide effort, that remains the complicated element. Once your camp is destroyed, there are a few of your friends I’d dearly like to bring in on this project. A witch, and a mechanic.”

“The mechanic will prove most useful in bringing the portable versions of this device up to speed. You see beneath you, I have created the weapons, and the war. It is surprisingly easy to engineer your mythical monsters into beasts that are useful to my purposes. I’ll create the tools needed to fight them, and once the boorish DHS secretary has firmly laid the blame for the menace at your feet, I’ll unleash my creations."

Dare pauses, surveying Nico carefully. His voice is light.

"The witch, of course, I will use to run the machine.”

Nico’s face is stony, impressively passive as Dare signals the guard, and together they frog-march him over to the device. Dare leaves Nico in the guards company, and Percy can see the guard clench his hand over Nico’s arm. Another hiss of pain and Percy knows Nico’s arm must be broken. Dare keys in a code on the adjacent computer, and with a burst of decompressing steam, the door to the chamber opens. A small figure slumps out of it onto the ground.

“Here, now we trade. Oh! This one’s just unconscious, not completely used up… take her back to containment.” 

The guard forces Nico into the chamber and stoops to pick up the unconscious girl from the floor. Dare pushes the door closed. Percy’s mind races. The girl, a demigod, he recognizes by the description from the kids they rescued upstate. He can’t see any sign of Annabeth. Dare is arming the machine. Light shines from behind the door. 

Percy bursts through the ceiling at the exact time the guard crumples to the floor from a blow to the back of the head. Annabeth catches the girl before her head hits the steel flooring, but Percy isn’t looking. His hand is at Dare’s throat, lifting the man off the ground, ignoring the burning in his own shins from the fall. 

“Open it.”

Dare manages a smile behind all the pressure on his neck. Percy squeezes tighter. A faint groan comes from inside the chamber, and Percy can only imagine how loud it must’ve been, to be able to hear it from outside. 

“Open it now, or I will kill you.”

“Killing me won’t save your friend,” Dare rasps.

Percy clenches his fingers. 

“Fine… fine… code 34… 26… 19… 92… and ENTER.”

Percy taps in the numbers with his right hand, still fixed on Dare. The door opens, and inside, Nico slumps to the ground, still bound by ropes. Percy finally takes his eyes off Dare to see Nico pitch forward onto his hands and knees and wretch.

“Nico – are you alright?” he shouts. Nico looks up, eyes confused and unfocused, and waves Percy off. 

Unconvinced, Percy turns back to Dare, loosening his grip just enough to let the man pull a heaving breath.

“What’s wrong with him?” 

Dare chokes out a laugh, “It’s a… small _side effect_ … of the machine. It needs fuel, to bend the Mist… sometimes, the fuel also bends…” 

“Percy, the machine must be altering his perception. We don’t know what he’s seeing…” Annabeth says quietly from his side. She’s checking the unconscious girl for a pulse.

“Could be anything,” Dare rasps, “Some of the other subjects had similar experiences… none were feeling too talkative about it afterwards for some reason.” 

Nico falls onto his back, hacking great coughs past gasping breaths. 

“Percy… we’re running…time…” Percy hears him mumble. Whether he’s lucid or not, Nico is right. Percy charges forward, pressing Dare against the railing surrounding the platform. 

“Tell me how to disarm the doors.” 

“For what purpose, Jackson? My men are already on their way. You think you can escape with your addled friend _and_ the girl? Unless you’re planning on leaving her, which would hardly be the darkest black mark in your long, dirty history. Just stay here, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“If you control the Mist, why even let us get this far?” Annabeth demands, “You could’ve trapped us in the basement from the beginning.” 

Percy feels his stomach drop even before Dare grins at him.

“Oh, but you’ve already thought of that, haven’t you, Percy. For once, you are one step ahead of the clever Ms. Chase here. Of course, only someone with your particular mind would know the truth and bring your friends here _anyway_. You’ve long suspected you only survived this long because I continued to allowit. You know you are only here because I want you to be, want you to see the inevitability of your destruction from the front row.”

A quick check shows Nico shivering on the floor beside Percy, eyes open and unseeing. Percy’s vision tinges red. It helps him focus, clears his vision. He feels calm, in control. 

“It might’ve occurred to me. Did you also want me to do this?” 

He lowers his hand from Dare’s neck to his collarbone and squeezes until the bone snaps. Dare cries out. So does Annabeth.

“Percy, no-“ 

“The code to disarm the doors. If you really control everything, you’ll be able to do it from here. Tell me.” 

Percy eases up the pressure on Dare’s shattered bone slightly and the man gasps. Nico laughs dimly in the background, eyes wide at nothing.

“768946… for all the good it will do you.”

“Percy, we have to go _now_. You heard him, camp may already be under attack…” Annabeth pleads. She must know what’s coming, Percy thinks, maybe that’s why she came back. Maybe that’s why she listened when Nico said he needed help. Maybe she thought she could stop it.

She was wrong. 

“Thank you, Mr. Dare, that’s very helpful,” Percy says evenly before breaking Dare’s other clavicle, feeling the splinters under his hand, poking against the skin. Dare screams, then struggles to control his breathing. Struggles to laugh. Percy reaches for his pocket. 

“You can’t hurt me with your precious sword, Jackson,” Dare spits. Percy smiles, hand passing his pocket, reaching for the blade strapped to his shin. His fishing knife. There are even dried scales on it, flecks of rust and old blood. 

“You have done your homework, Dare, I’ll give you that,” Percy grins, thumbing the knife fondly, “This one though, it’s just plain old folded steel. Nothing precious about it.”

He presses it to Dare’s face. He hears Nico moan behind him.

“Well, except for this,” Percy adds.

He digs the knife into Dare’s skin. Blood wells around the serrated edge. Dare makes a lot more noise than Nico did.

“You abducted those kids. You used them, you murdered them. This isn’t about me, or Rachel. If it was, you’dve faced me like a man.” 

Dare makes a hacking noise that might almost be a laugh.

“Like a man… the man you were, when you all but handed them to me? Too scared for yourselves to protect your own demented brethren… like the man you were when you ran… tried to escape… I’ll help you, Jackson… I’ll lock up every last one of you until it’s like it all never happened, and I’ll put you in this machine until _you_ don’t even know what you are… I… promise you that…” 

Percy grabs Dare’s throat, lifts him into the air. He points the knife into the softness under Dare’s jaw. More blood comes out of him. It’s running down Percy’s hand. Dare writhes, shouts, making it run better.

“Percy, he’ll never stop, if you do this,” Annabeth urges him, bargaining, “Leave him, we’ll escape, we’ll get back to camp, we can heal Nico, he’s going to be fine. Dare will never stop hunting you if you don’t walk away right now.”

Percy looks at Nico again, and Nico is looking back, seeing him, maybe, with the familiar curious look on his face. 

“He’ll never stop hunting me either way,” Percy says, removing the knife, stowing it in its holster. He looks back at Dare, feels the spasm of throat muscle under his hands, thinks he sees just a hint of relief, of victory in the man’s eyes.

Percy tilts his head, surveying, and continues, “but maybe, next time, he won’t want to see me quite so much.” 

Percy pushes Dare back over the railing and drops him forty feet onto the concrete floor below. Dare’s legs get under him just in time to break on impact. Percy turns away, the screaming in his ears muted as if through water as he turns to the machine. 

He slips the last demagnetizer out of his pocket. Quickly dialing in the code to disarm the doors, he sticks the small silver disk onto the electrical panel and presses. Smoke and sparks billow out of the seams and sockets immediately, but Percy isn’t looking. He stoops down, slinging Nico’s good arm over his shoulders and wrapping his own around Nico’s waist, hoisting him upright. Nico groans, eyes finally shut, but leans into him.

Annabeth’s face is a mask as she picks up the girl in a fireman carry.

“You got her?” Percy asks. He can’t carry two people. Annabeth gives him a determined nod. Her face is pale, set, but she’s shaking a little in a way Percy elects not to think about. He just needs her to stick with him long enough to get out of the building. The radio on the fallen guard’s belt is buzzing with orders to apprehend the intruders at all costs.

It’s time to go.

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Percy doesn’t know how they get out of the building. He thinks it’s some parts sneaking through, some parts cutting down guards, all parts thanks to Annabeth. It’s almost like his brain starts forming new short-term memories upon arrival at the car, and when it does, there’s more water on his clothes than blood and he isn’t entirely sure where it all came from. There’s a hissing in his ears that he can’t place, drowning out all other sound.

Jason bursts out of the doors to help Percy with Nico, and together they lay him down carefully on the middle bench seat. Percy kneels next to Nico’s head as Jason turns back to help Annabeth with the girl, sliding the door shut as Leo peels out away from the curb. There are no police, no sirens. The roads are strangely clear, but Percy barely notices. He only dimly hears Piper telling Annabeth they heard the whole thing, any words spoken within range of a microphone, and something about decrypting data. He tunes it out, because Nico opens his eyes and looks right at Percy. 

“Percy…” 

“Hey, Nico…” he starts, but doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know what Nico’s seeing and what he isn’t, where he thinks he is, “… how’re you feeling?”

Nico gives a small shrug and winces when it jostles his arm. 

“S’hurts. Burns… we in a car?”

Percy nods, feeling sick. He wants to find Dare, carry him up the stairs by the hair, and drop him all over again, to cut on him until the blood stops coming, but he forgets all that when he feels a rough hand on his face. Nico tilts his head and gives Percy a small smile, good arm raised to run his fingers through Percy’s hair. 

“Sorry I kind of fell apart on you there-“

Percy brings his own hand up to cover Nico’s. 

“Don’t. No apologizing.”

“You got me out… I think. You dropped Dare off a cliff.”

Percy nods again, “Yeah. I did. Well, it was a platform, but anyway, you’dve done the same for me.”

Nico frowns suddenly.

“He alive?”

Percy realizes he doesn’t know. He never looked down, never turned back to check. He tears his eyes off Nico for a second to see Annabeth nod.

“Yeah, it was on the radio. They scraped him off the floor and into an ambulance,” she says. For how opposed she had been to Percy’s methods, there’s not a hint of sympathy in her tone as she describes Dare’s misfortunes.

Nico closes his eyes, frown fading into a calm expression, almost… peaceful. Percy remembers it from when he was asleep. After a few moments, he hears Nico say quietly, 

“For you, I would’ve killed him.”

Percy doesn’t doubt it - he thinks he meant to, and then he tries not to think, tries not to analyze the rush he feels in his chest. He pushes some of Nico’s hair off his face instead of responding, kisses his forehead without blushing instead of speaking. An odd smile slips onto Nico’s face, accompanied by a small huff of breath.

“I still do, you know.”

Percy frowns. 

“Still what?”

Nico’s eyes stay closed. Percy thinks he sees Jason turn away out of the corner of his eye, maybe trying not to listen. 

“You wanted to know… maybe, I think I saw you wanting to know… Love. You. Yeah, still do.”

 

* * *

 

For some reason, Percy expects to see smoke rising over Montauk, but the morning sky is clear as ever. Maybe he took Dare’s threats too literally, or maybe, miraculously, his childhood refuge has escaped yet again unscathed…

Then, as they approach the line where the protective barrier once shielded the camp from view, Leo shouts from the front.

“Hey, what’s that shadow there? On the grass, just before the pine…”

Nico is dozing fitfully on the seat, so Percy pulls away for a moment to look where everyone else is looking. Piper realizes it first.

“It’s… not a shadow.”

She’s right, of course. The sun shifts from around a cloud as they get closer and Percy sees outlines, the shapes of people lying on the grass. They’re dressed all in black, at least 15 of them, and laid out neatly right outside the camp boundary. There’s no evidence that they aren’t dead.

Leo gives a hollow, humorless laugh from the driver’s seat.

“Maybe we won.”

They follow the dirt road over the crest of the hill and suddenly Leo slams on the breaks. The truck skids to a halt in the hard dirt. Percy cranes his neck around the seats to see what’s going on. 

There’s a broad arc of people, dressed like Roman legionnaires, standing in front of the car, spears pointed, shields locked. Everyone in the car freezes, and Percy holds his breath, until suddenly Annabeth flings the side door open and steps out. She walks calmly around the front of the car and (Percy’s eyes don’t quite believe it) _waves_ at the legionnaires.

One of them, indistinguishable until he breaks rank, steps forward, and suddenly Percy can see the long purple cape billowing behind him. Out of the line of soldiers, this guy is massive, easily half a head above than the next tallest Roman. The man removes his gold helmet and Percy exhales.

Frank Zhang.

Percy wants to get out too, but Nico groans, and Percy turns to see his eyes open and staring unseeing at the ceiling of the car again. Annabeth is explaining something to Frank, gesticulating rapidly, and suddenly the legion moves aside and they’re waved through. Percy looks back once to see Annabeth and Frank standing on the hill looking back.

Percy is halfway out of the car before it even comes to a full stop on the lawn. Bright sun beats down on the camp grounds which look almost untouched. Then Percy sees them – long, deep ruts from huge tires on the grass. Arrows stuck in the lawn, glinting gold in the sunlight. He sees someone come out of the Big House, running in the grooves to meet him. The paint of the house has small, round holes in it… bullet holes. 

“Hazel!” he shouts. Dare’s words come back to him, and suddenly she is the one person Percy wants to see. She’s being helped along by another camper Percy doesn’t know, and when she gets close enough, Percy sees bandages on her left arm.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

Hazel pauses to catch a breath.

“They showed up right after you guys left. A whole SWAT team. Then we heard on their radios, that intruders had been captured at Dare’s headquarters downtown – we knew it must be you. Is everyone okay? How did you get out? Where’s Nico?”

Percy had been hung up on the word “SWAT” but Hazel’s question pulls it from his brain like she never said it. He climbs back into the car, and with Jason’s help, lifts Nico off the seat and heads towards the house. Hazel and Jason follow him, and Percy tries not to think about how pale Nico looks in the sun, about the dried blood turned brown on his jaw and in his hair.

“What happened to him?” Hazel asks quietly, voice shaking. Percy opens his mouth to respond, but no sound comes out. He frowns, looking down at Nico’s head which is slumped against his chest.

Jason takes Hazel’s arm gently, redirecting her focus. 

“He was captured. Dare is definitely behind the Mist receding. We need to call a meeting of the counselors as soon as possible. How soon can everyone be ready?” 

Hazel pauses for a moment, and gives Percy a penetrating look. 

“I trust Percy to take care of Nico,” Jason adds softly. Hazel’s eyes soften.

“Follow me. Chiron’s on the grounds.”

They peel off as Percy carries Nico up the steps. Several campers from the Apollo cabin are already bustling around on the porch, and Percy sees a number of older campers in their care. Several of the healers run up to Percy, and he shifts Nico carefully into their arms. A tall Apollo kid – Micah, Percy remembers – approaches him.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Fire door hit his left arm,” Percy starts, “there’s definitely some tearing, and I’m positive it’s broken. Major blunt trauma to the temple likely concussed, and to the stomach or maybe ribs. Cut on his face from a bronze knife, looked clean. His head… he’s disoriented. The Mist is manipulating what he’s seeing, I think. I don’t know exactly what happened. They put him in a machine…” 

Percy’s voice catches as the whole event flashes behind his eyes without the mid-battle focus to gloss over it. Micah frowns, but carefully puts a hand on Percy’s shoulder. 

“You got him back. Let us do the rest. I’ve never seen anything a little nectar and ambrosia didn’t fix. You should have some yourself.”

Percy shakes his head, confused, “I’m not hurt.”

Micah smiles gently, “Sure you aren’t. It’ll calm you down.” 

Percy shakes his head, but tries to return the smile, “I’ll live. Maybe a rain check?” 

Micah nods and turns to follow the campers carrying Nico inside. Percy hears a voice from behind him.

“I’d be careful, Jackson, ignoring medical advice,” it says smoothly. Percy turns around to see Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano coming up the steps behind him. Her armor is old, her purple cape clearly frayed and worn, but she still looks every bit the queen Percy remembers.

“Well, that’s what I do best, ignore advice.”

Then she smiles, and Percy sees the friend he once had.

“I’m glad to see the radio reports of your imminent death were slightly exaggerated,” she says, still smiling. The muscles in Percy’s face hurt as he returns it.

“Slightly. I’m glad to see you here. Surprised, but glad.”

“Well, ask and you shall receive, Jackson.” 

“See, the last-naming is really unfair when I can’t get you back. I didn’t ask.”

She rolls her eyes, “Of course you didn’t.” 

Percy’s ‘then who did?’ is both cut off and answered by Annabeth coming around the house, followed by two legionnaires carrying a large person dressed in black SWAT ops gear. She heads up the steps as the legionnaires head off towards the camp boundary. She shoots Percy a small smile as she stands next to Reyna, quickly hooking their arms together. In her other hand she’s twirling a golden arrow. 

“Excellent timing as always, Reyna. Sorry we didn’t get in touch earlier.” 

Reyna nods, but her attractive features are marred by a grimace, “From what I hear, there was nothing either of you could’ve done about that. Better late than never.” 

Percy guesses, “You called Camp Jupiter.” 

Annabeth smiles grimly, “The second I got back here, and found out Chiron hadn’t been in touch. Unbelievable. Did you have any trouble finding the place?” 

Reyna frowns, “Unfortunately, no. Your barrier was totally gone when we got here. SWAT everywhere. Seems to be in working order now though.” 

“That’s because Percy destroyed the machine,” Annabeth says fiercely, and with them both looking at him Percy feels himself flush. 

“Dare will fix it.”

“True, but at least we have a reprieve, and since I stole the plans for the build, maybe it’ll be a little longer.”

“You ripped the data off the servers while Dare had Nico,” Percy surmises. 

Annabeth nods, and for a second looks a little uncomfortable. Other people might’ve thought data collection while a friend is held hostage shows heartless priorities, but Annabeth is not most people. Percy respects her all the more for that, and Annabeth’s refusal to have a no-win scenario has never wronged him in the past. 

“I’ll go over it with Leo,” Annabeth says, “It’ll be good for him to have a distraction, after… what Dare said.” 

“Leo would never help him,” Percy says flatly.

“I know that. We all know that. But if Dare has been tapping Rachel for information, he has to know, Leo trusts everyone but himself.”

“How did Hazel get hurt,” Percy asks Reyna. Reyna’s eyes flash, and Percy doesn’t want to be there when she deals with the people responsible for attacking Hazel Levesque.

Actually, that’s a lie. He does. He wants to help.

“SWAT came in shooting Tasers and rubber bullets. It was clearly a capture mission, though on what grounds… Hazel sent her team back from the border as soon as they showed up, but of course she stayed to try to hold them off. We showed up just as they were dragging her into a black van.”

Percy feels his hands clench into fists automatically.

“We determined diplomacy was a waste of time, so Frank gave the order to start shooting,” Reyna continues with a cold grin, “After that, it didn’t last long. They were expecting resistance, but not full force of the 5th cohort resistance.”

“Stunner arrows. A clever trick to avoid an all-out war,” Annabeth says admiringly.

“When it was clear the Mist was cooperating, I had the legion drag the downed SWAT officers off the premise. They’ll remember what happened, but hopefully it’ll be awhile before they can find the camp again,” Reyna says, looking out over the lawn.

“It _was_ a capture mission,” Percy says, thinking of the machine, “and there were no grounds, because these men aren’t SWAT. They’re Dare’s private force. It might go all the way up to the DHS, or they could be clinging to ignorance. Until we have a closer look at what we collected, there’s no way to tell, but…” Percy trails off. Reyna nods.

“But don’t expect due-process any time soon.”

“Percy, there’s going to be an emergency meeting, down by the campfire since the Big House is currently an infirmary,” Annabeth says quietly. Percy frowns, eyes flicking back to the door behind him. He sighs, resigned to go with her, to relive the last few hours and have his actions scrutinized to pieces, when he hears Annabeth say, “I was thinking we should let Piper tell everyone what happened. You should probably stay here, hold down the fort until we’re finished checking the border for leaks.”

When he looks up, Annabeth has her arms crossed, and he can see her fingers twitching the way they do when she’s holding back. In seconds he’s pulled her into a hug. 

“Thank you,” he whispers into her hair. Her arms come around his waist and squeeze, quickly, reassuring.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll be back up here when it’s over… if you want,” she says softly. He’s nodding before the words are even out of her mouth.

“Please.” 

She heads down the steps with Reyna and suddenly there is nothing for Percy to do but sit and wait on the porch. He leans against the wall, meaning to just take the weight off his feet for a moment, and suddenly he’s sliding down, sitting on the floorboards, eyes closed. He tries not to think about the past few hours, but images flash unbidden before his eyes anyway. His decision to keep on and find Dare when he knew it was a trap. It was always about finding Dare, for him and Nico, Percy realizes, but now one of them is half conscious in an infirmary. 

Climbing up the elevator shaft, joking with Nico, catching him staring at Annabeth. He smiles, but then he’s back in the warehouse, seeing the cogs of the machine designed to take him and his friends apart. The alarm sounding, Nico pushing Annabeth through the door, taking the fall himself.

Percy is picking over Dare’s words on the platform when the door behind him opens. 

“Percy?”

Percy turns to see Micah standing in the doorway, looking down at him. Scrambling to his feet, Percy attempts to pull himself together. Micah smiles. 

“He’s awake, more lucid. He asked to see you.”

“Well he can’t be that lucid, then.” 

They’ve tucked Nico in one of the back rooms, and it takes Percy a second to recognize it’s the same room he woke up in when he first got to Camp Half Blood, a lifetime ago. Nico sprawls across the small bed, feet hanging over the end, and Percy focuses on the cut on his cheek that’s almost healed, instead of on the way his arm is awkwardly splinted at his side. On the way Nico’s eyes find Percy’s when he enters the room.

“You’re here,” Nico blurts out, and immediately goes a little pink. Percy wonders how much nectar they gave him, and if it maybe wouldn’t be kinder for Percy to come back later. He’s too selfish to do it, though. 

“Of course I am, you asked,” Percy replies, pulling a chair across the floor and sitting by Nico’s head. Nico shrugs with one shoulder. 

“That didn’t always work before,” he says lightly. Percy frowns. A lot of nectar, apparently. 

“Well, that was before. Now it seems like everyone knows how stupid I am for you. How’re you feeling?”

Another half-shrug. 

“Fine. Better. Arm feels really warm. Did you know I’ve never broken a bone before? How have I never broken a bone?”

Percy smiles, “Bones are kind of your specialty.”

“Did you carry me inside?”

Percy nods, and Nico huffs an irritated sigh.

“Did anyone _see_ you carry me inside?”

Percy just smiles, “How’s your head? Seeing alright?”

“Mostly functional. How long have you had blue hair?”

A joke. An honest-to-gods joke. 

“Not long,” Percy laughs, “How’s it look?” 

Nico grins back at him, a little sharper than the loopy smile of before.

“Pretty good.”

They fall silent. Percy wants to touch him, to reach out and hold his hand, or push back the stray locks of hair that have fallen onto his face. It’s different now, though – Nico will (probably) remember this and Percy doesn’t have the excuse of concern for his safety anymore. Plus, Percy can only imagine how it would go over if Nico thought he was being coddled.

“Is camp okay?” Nico asks quietly, startling Percy from his war of self-control.

“Yeah, camp survived. Dare’s people came, wearing SWAT gear, but they didn’t make it far.” 

“Is Hazel okay?” Nico whispers even softer, eyes steely. Percy nods immediately.

“Yeah. Dare made good on his threat to capture her, but Reyna showed up just in time. Hazel’s fine.”

Nico nods, looking both relieved and angry, but then his eyes light up. 

“Reyna’s here?” he says, brightening in a way that is almost certainly to do with the drugs.

Percy nods, “Yeah, Annabeth called her. Her and Frank, they brought the whole 5th.”

“Bet it was epic. Where’s Reyna now?”

“With Annabeth, probably at the meeting, and since when do you say ‘epic’?” Percy answers. He’d kind of forgotten that Nico and Reyna spent a lot of time together back in the day, when he was the first Greek to find Camp Jupiter, and during the war. Something weird pangs behind Percy’s sternum when he thinks of Nico being close with the stunning woman he just met on the steps. It’s not really fair. It’s not like Nico was the one with a steady girlfriend when all of this started. 

“What you’re doing right now, stop it. Stop. Ugh,” Nico says, laughing and groaning at the same time. Percy chuckles.

“Sorry, sorry. Do you want me to get her? I’m sure she’s pretty sick of Chiron at this point.” 

Nico shakes his head, “She’ll come by later. Stay.”

Percy does, happily.

“So,” Nico says, grinning again, “How’s Frank? Still all big and muscly and commanding and -“

“Stop. Dear gods, I’m begging you.” 

Nico just laughs. Percy gives him a friendly smack to the good arm, but it’s so soft it’s really just dragging fingers across skin.

“You are not this much fun when you’re sober.”

Nico clearly tries to look offended, but it’s mostly smile. He catches Percy’s hand.

“… or this affectionate.”

“Yeah well, no one’s watching. They’ll never believe you.”

“That’s just fine with me,” Percy says, and maybe because no one’s watching, he leans over and presses his mouth to Nico’s, soft enough not to jostle him. When he pulls away, Nico frowns in a way that can only be described as a pout.

“Don’t make that face. I have to be careful. You’re delicate.” 

“Oh, if I could hurt you, or see straight… What’s happening now? How’re we going to stop Dare from rebuilding the –“ 

“Quiet. We’ll talk about that later, when you’re not delicate. We’ll debate it into the ground, I’m sure.”

“But the police aren’t storming in to take you away for dropping the most powerful businessman in the country off a balcony, right?” Nico presses.

“Not so far, no.”

Percy doesn’t even want to know what they’re saying on the news. Honestly, now that the blind rage has died down some, he’s surprised he’s even made it this far as a free man. He doesn’t share this feeling.

“Alright. Good,” Nico says, closing his eyes, leaning back on the pillows from where he’d tried to sit up. After a minute, he smiles, opening his eyes slightly. They’re bright, and his mouth is more of a smirk than the goofy, drugged-up smile.

“So, Percy, about later,” he says casually. 

“Later?” Percy asks, already feeling the heat rise on his face before he even knows why.

“When I’m not so delicate…” and Nico di Angelo _winks_ at him. Percy’s proud of himself for not stuttering. He’s sure his face is burning.

“It’s a date.”

Nico closes his eyes again, settling back into the pillows, still smiling. Percy feels himself grinning like an idiot. When Nico speaks again, he sounds almost asleep, going back under the painkillers.

“Hey Percy?” 

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t say anything embarrassing, did I? When I was hallucinating?”

Percy thinks back to the car ride, how Nico looked with his eyes unfocused, confused, blood streaked across his face. The half-confession. 

“No, Nico, you didn’t say anything embarrassing.”

When he’s sure Nico is asleep, Percy leaves the room and heads back out onto the porch. He rubs his eyes, suddenly exhausted. Maybe he should’ve taken Micah up on his offer, just to get some rest. He’s about to resume his slumped position on the porch when Annabeth comes up the steps, this time alone, so he meets her on the top step instead.

“Short meeting?”

She shrugs, “They’re still talking. Piper and Reyna are handling babysitting Chiron just fine without me, though, so I thought I’d see if you wanted to take a walk?” 

Percy looks briefly back at the house, then sighs. 

“Yeah, I do.”

They take the route around the perimeter. It’s fairly deserted, at least compared to what Percy has seen over the past few days. They run into the odd Roman, guarding the barrier, watching for signs of disturbance, monitoring the row of unconscious agents, waiting for the moment the Mist would fail again. Mostly, though, it’s trees and fields and Annabeth looking sideways at him while they walk.

“You know, I’m surprised,” Percy finally says lightly, “Seems like back in the day you would’ve demanded I see a healer and get debriefed, not lured me off to the outskirts, away from everyone.” 

“I could demand that you sleep, which is what you need, but how far would I get?” she says, voice flat, “Were you about to go take a nap?” 

“Not until Nico can hold onto consciousness without saying a bunch of stuff he’d die before telling me normally.”

“He means it, though. He’s not lying.”

“Doesn’t mean he’d want me to know.”

Annabeth shrugs, “You’re probably right about that. So, I figured luring you off was my next best option. Plus, you’re a marginally better conversationalist when you’re awake.”

Percy hears the smile in her voice and returns it. Finally, she asks,

“How’re you feeling?” 

It’s Percy’s turn to shrug, “Fine, really.” 

She waits for him to decide it’s not worth blowing her off. 

“You know how I am,” he finally adds, looking at the ground. Annabeth makes a thoughtful noise beside him. 

“Maybe, once.”

Percy turns his head slightly to observe her, to see if she looks angry, but there’s nothing worrying in her expression. He tries again. 

“Calm - I feel calm. Then I think about how messed up that is, and… I’m scared. Then I think about that girl we found, and N-Nico, and I’m angry, I’m so angry and that… makes me feel calm again.”

Annabeth ‘hmms’ again, “Well, you’ve never been one to shy away from a fight, to do the hard thing.”

Percy thinks about the expression on Annabeth’s face when she asked him not to hurt Dare.

“You thought it was the wrong thing.” 

“I knew…” she starts, then seems to rethink, “I _thought_ it would hurt you more in the end. That you would live to regret it. Like I said, maybe once… maybe once you would have.”

He tries to recall the feeling of his fingers at Dare’s throat, the way every color, ever sound sharpened, the way he didn’t look but he _listened_ for the breaking of Dare’s bones on the concrete floor. The remembered sensations make him feel at peace, and wow if that isn’t the most fucked up… 

“Don’t. Don’t try to stop feeling what you’re feeling.”

“It’s so messed up-“ Percy starts, voice hoarse.

“It’s who you are,” Annabeth interrupts, hand on his chest. Percy realizes they’ve stopped walking, that he’s taking huge, gulping breaths.

“It’s who you are,” she says again, “and we need you. I tried to deny you, Chiron tried to control you, but Nico, he knew from the beginning. We _need_ you for what’s coming. If you run again, we’ve already lost.”

Percy shakes his head, “I’m not… I wasn’t going to leave.”

Annabeth moves her hand to rest on the side of his face, and Percy lets the knot in his chest loosen.

“There are ways to run without ever picking up your feet, Percy.” 

He closes his eyes, just breathes for a second. The stability from the adrenaline is finally leaving him, but he won’t panic, he _won’t_.

“What are we going to do now?” he asks quietly. He’s surprised to hear Annabeth chuckle. 

“It’s time we all started asking you that.”

“What do you mean?” he opens his eyes to see her shrug, still smiling. 

“Chiron will be requesting the honor of your presence soon, though I’m making him wait until you’ve had some sleep. Actually, it was more Piper who convinced him.” 

Percy feels a smile come unbidden to his face. 

“Yeah, she has this way about her…” 

Annabeth’s hand slips to his shoulder, pressing slightly, and Percy follows it until he’s lying in the grass. The sun is out at camp again, beating down on his face, and he could let it, could let it make him warm and sleepy and push all the other thoughts from his head. Annabeth’s hand leaves him but he catches it with his eyes closed.

“Are you staying?”

He hears hesitation in her voice, hesitation he will do anything to drive out. 

“Right now, or permanently?”

“Both.” 

“Do you want me to?”

He needs to fix this, just one more thing, before he can let go. 

“Of course I do.”

Her smile is back, and he can feel it on him, like the sun, without opening his eyes. 

“Then of course I am.” 

Thin fingers rake through his hair, pushing it back from his face. Percy lets his arms drop to his sides. Finally, he sleeps.

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artwork for this chapter: http://grell-e.deviantart.com/art/PJO-Riptide-4-477021990

“A military operation took place in Montauk, New York Saturday at 6AM eastern standard, which a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security described as a ‘training exercise’. Several ambulances returned from that region of Long Island but we are assured the involvement of medical personnel was part of standard operating procedure and for precaution only.

“In other news, former real estate mogul and CEO of tech powerhouse Dare Enterprises, Warren Dare, was hospitalized early Saturday morning for injuries sustained in a ‘hit-and-run’ accident in lower Manhattan, his personal assistant tells us. The police were unavailable to comment, but the suspect is believed to still be at large. Dare’s injuries were described by a physician at Beth Israel Medical Center as ‘severe’, but we are informed that Dare is in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery. He is at this time unable to comment.”

Percy chuckles, which is probably kind of messed up, but he sees Nico smile out of the corner of his eye. 

“With no reports of attacks, or any sightings of the man featured in last week’s disturbing photographs, left-wing pundits are wondering if the sudden threat of the supernatural could’ve been exaggerated by the conservative media to bolster flagging arguments for increased defense spending-“ 

“Gods bless the left-wing pundits, then,” Nico says dryly, grinning at Percy. Percy smiles back.

“Mr. Jackson.”

Percy’s head snaps to the voice, and he sees Chiron in the doorway, firmly seated in his wheelchair with a blanket over his legs. Nico doesn’t turn, still grinning at the TV in the common room. Chiron pointedly doesn’t acknowledge him.

“If you have a minute, I’d like to speak with you.”

It’s the politest Percy’s ever heard him, but he still looks at Nico.

“Go on,” Nico says, flexing the fingers on his left hand, “I’ll let you know if they say anything interesting.”

Percy nods and stands, following Chiron out onto the porch.

It’s the front side of the house this time, and Percy can see the whole camp. The tire tracks are mostly filled in, all the stray arrows collected and carefully stowed, damage from the bullets on the cabins painted and repaired. He can see the huge black truck (a truck once again) parked by the Hephaestus cabin, where Leo and Annabeth are unraveling miles of encrypted data. He can see _Anaklusmos_ , bobbing in the harbor. Gods, he wants to go sailing. He wants to take Nico, and Annabeth, which should be so weird but somehow isn’t at all, out on the waters of the bay, the only place he knows no one can catch him.

Maybe not _no one_ , though, because there’s someone else standing on the porch. A stocky man in Bermuda shorts and a fishing hat.

“D-dad?” Percy stutters. He realizes it’s been so long, his mouth almost won’t form around the unfamiliar word.

Poseidon isn’t smiling, but he doesn’t look unfriendly, either. 

“Hello, Percy.”

Chiron sighs, folding his hands over his lap. 

“Poseidon was so kind as to respond to my invitation, because what I am about to suggest is unprecedented in the history of gods and demigods working together, and his input is required.”

Percy’s eyes flick from his father to Chiron.

“Input on what?” he prompts.

“Chiron has proposed, and Olympus agrees, that you become the director of Camp Half Blood,” Poseidon says, surveying Percy calmly.

There’s a thick silence. Percy feels like his brain just switched off, now, when he needs it most. He latches onto the only piece that stands out. 

“Olympus agrees… but you don’t.”

“I have no doubt that you are up to the task, Percy,” Poseidon says kindly, “and you are without doubt the best man for the job. I worry only that it will not make you happy.” 

Percy doesn’t miss the way his father’s eyes flash to Chiron, mid-sentence. Chiron, sensibly, does not meet them.

“What about you?” Percy asks Chiron, suddenly morbidly curious about the fate of his former mentor, if Olympus is calling for his resignation. 

“I of course will be happy to aid you in any way I can,” Chiron says quietly, “I would also be glad to continue training the new recruits in the ways of battle and survival, should you desire my assistance. On the matters of the continued existence and goals of Camp Half Blood, and the preparation of young demigods for life outside of camp, however, I will defer completely to you.” 

“Indeed you will,” Poseidon says quietly. Percy feels the air around them charge. 

“I didn’t know there was ever an opening for this job,” Percy says hoarsely, kind of wishing there was a chair to sink into. He tries to stand taller.

“There isn’t,” Poseidon says, “but perhaps there should be. Times change, and Olympus feels that camp must do a better job adapting to the current need. The threats of today are not the trials of yesteryear. We may be overdue for a change in command.”

Percy privately thinks that a stronger men (centaurs?) than Chiron would’ve collapsed by now.

“It’s more than a job,” Chiron says quietly, “It is a title bestowed by the gods themselves. These titles tend to come with unforeseen… side effects.”

“Am I going to live forever?” Percy blurts out. Poseidon chuckles.

“It may dramatically slow your aging.” 

“I thought the gods didn’t offer immortality more than once.” 

“They don’t. Your health will be tied with the health of the camp. In this case, immortality is not offered, it is earned… or it is not,” Chiron says, and Percy stares hard at him. The advanced age of the centaur is ever more obvious, even than it was when Percy first returned to camp.

“But since this position has never been assigned to a demigod before, we have no idea what will happen.”

“Yet you’re willing to chance it?” Percy asks.

“We are willing to do what is necessary for the survival of our kind,” Chiron replies, voice quiet.

“Chiron, if I might speak with my son alone for a moment. I imagine he has time to think it over.” 

It isn’t a question. Chiron nods, and wheels himself back into the house. Poseidon waves his hand, and two weathered Adirondacks appear on the porch just in time for Percy to collapse into one. Poseidon sits in the other more carefully. 

“Percy,” he says after a long pause, “is this what you want?”

“What else am I going to do?” 

“You are my son. You will always have a choice,” Poseidon says fiercely, causing the air around them to crackle and Percy to turn and stare at him, “You should never do something because you feel you have no other options. Those are invariably the worse decisions.”

Percy runs a hand over his face. Poseidon surveys him with interest.

“What would you do first, as director?” he asks. Percy barely has to think.

“Get Rachel back,” he says immediately, “Fix what her father did to her. Reopen the camp, send out the satyrs to retrieve new recruits. Then, bring Camp Jupiter up to speed. There’s no chance of keeping this a secret, and maybe I’m naïve, but there has to be a way for the world to know about camp, about us, and not see us as the enemy. Dare is the enemy, he’s dead set on starting this war, and I’ve seen the proof that he can do it. I’m not saying that telling the world about the truth of Greek legends isn’t the way to go either, before Olympus panics. I just don’t want to hide anymore. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to hide.” 

It feels like a confession. Suddenly Percy’s head is in his hands.

“How can I be camp director? We’re going to have to come public eventually, and I’m the target of a nationwide manhunt. I’ll be arrested before I can blink. We’d need someone else to be the face of it, and Chiron clearly isn’t going to be up for that anymore…”

Poseidon grins, “You’re already thinking like the director, and I imagine when it comes to the face of the camp, you’ll have volunteers.” 

Percy narrows his eyes, “Just how often do you talk to Annabeth, anyway?” 

He’s never seen a god look chagrined before. 

“A fair bit more often than I talk to you. I confess, I was pulling for your relationship with her, parentage aside.”

Percy realizes that, somehow, his involvement with Nico has made it to Olympus. It’s vaguely horrifying.

“However,” Poseidon says, smiling at the look on Percy’s face, “as I said, you are my son, and I will support you in whatever makes you happy.”

“This is the weirdest conversation we’ve ever had.” 

“Not as weird as the one you’ll have with your potential future father-in-law.” 

Percy’s not sure which emotion is more prominent, embarrassment or sheer terror. Actually, scratch that, he’s very sure. 

“What do you think I should do… about being director, I mean,” Percy asks, desperate for the advice and to change the topic.

Poseidon leans back in the chair, looking at camp over his the steeple of his hands.

“That depends. As far is what is best for camp, you are the clear choice. As far as what is best for you, and the people you care about…” 

“If I’m… not completely mortal…”

“If that is your concern, I will say, Mr. di Angelo shows some alarming proclivities for escaping his father’s influence that are already of great interest to Zeus and myself. In fact, Nico’s undeniable loyalty to you played a major factor in convincing Zeus to nominate you for director in the first place. That young man is a valuable asset that can be difficult to hold on to.” 

Percy privately agrees.

“Ms. Chase is another story.”

Percy thinks for a long moment.

“Can I quit?”

Poseidon smiles but says nothing. Percy continues.

“I mean, maybe it’d be better anyway. To make director a per-term position. It’s just like you said, times change, camp should change with them. Maybe the job should be temporary.”

Percy knows he’s said the right thing, and without warning, he is decided.

“If you desire to give up the position, I will always ensure that you can,” Poseidon says, still smiling. Percy figures that’s enough support for anyone.

“Now, as I’m sure you are aware, the camp is still being watched. Or at least, the area where various authorities believe camp to be, which is unfortunately, quite accurate. I must go. Having an extra-dimensional being on the premises may not go unnoticed, even by the basest of surveillance. Plus, you are about to have company, and unless I’m very much misreading your facial expressions, you are not ready for the ‘boyfriend meets the parents’ event, correct?”

Percy blanches, and Poseidon stands up, chuckling.

“Though I recommend you continue to think on this, I imagine I will know where to find you in the future.”

Percy nods, “Thanks, dad.”

“Thank you, Percy. And call your mother, please.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Percy has just enough time to shield his eyes before Poseidon vanishes in white light. Seconds later, Nico bursts through the screen door.

“That’s it. I can’t sit in there anymore. I’m officially done resting, I don’t care what you say,” Nico vents, but then stops, looking down at Percy, “What happened to you?”

Percy only takes a minute to enjoy knowing something Nico doesn’t.

“I got promoted.”

“You had a job?” Nico says dryly. 

“Yep. You’re now looking at the potential new washed-up camp director.”

Nico takes a long pause. 

“Huh. Well, is the potential washed-up camp director done treating me like spun glass?”

Percy shrugs, flushing a little as he says, “I guess that depends on if you stick around and help remind him.”

Nico looks right into Percy’s eyes, and Percy holds his breath. Finally, there’s a small nod.

“Yeah, I could do that…. You should ask Annabeth too, though,” he adds quietly. Percy fights to keep the ridiculous smile off his face, but from the severity of Nico’s eye roll, he doesn’t entirely succeed. 

“I was thinking, you know, as my first act as potential new washed-up camp director-“ 

“You should make business cards that say that,” Nico deadpans.

“- that I haven’t been on the water in days.”

Nico nods, “You should go. Seriously, you don’t need to supervise me. My head’s on straight… or as straight as it gets.” 

Percy laughs so hard he _almost_ snorts. Almost.

“Nope, no can do. You require constant supervision.”

Nico’s eyes widen.

“I can’t get out there, the jump… what if I miss?”

“I know, it’s way too risky,” Percy says, trying to keep his voice serious, “I’m just going to have to carry you.”

Nico starts shaking his head furiously. 

“No way, Jackson. Never going to happen. That was a one time thing, and I was hallucinating.” 

Five minutes later, he’s carrying Nico across the gently rippling harbor. Nico’s arms are tight around his shoulders, and Percy is more than willing to put up with his nonstop grumbling for the heat of Nico’s chest against his back, the feeling of warm breath on his neck. Percy walks slowly over the surface of the water, but they make it to the boat eventually, and Nico definitely notices.

“Okay, you dragged that out as long as possible. You can put me down now.” 

“I don’t know,” Percy smiles, “What if you start seeing things and fall over the side… can you even swim?”

“Well, I can definitely hurt you.”

Percy puts him down, climbing over the gunwale after him. The sails and ropes feel familiar under his fingers, like old friends, wearing against the familiar callouses as he rushes through preparations. Nico complains loudly when Percy won’t let him pull up the anchor, and then they’re underway.

Percy closes his eyes, letting sea air wash over his face. He feels like he can breathe properly for the first time in days. Salt works its way into his hair, his skin, and he lets _Anaklusmos_ take the reins as they head off shore, quick as the wind will carry her. It’s almost like the current is shifting under them, pushing her along, faster and faster. Nico sits to the side, head leaning back in the sun, occasional sea spray flecking the side of his face, his arm over the gunwale.

“Sure you should be sailing with your eyes closed?” he asks, grinning. Percy can’t resist.

“Absolutely. In fact, did you know I can even sail with no hands?” he says casually. Nico’s grin broadens.

“And why would you want to do that?” 

Percy lets go of the tiller. It stays straight, the sails stay full, and Percy drops to the deck, shuffling over to Nico, kneeling between his legs. Leaning over him, Percy braces one arm on the side of the boat, keeping his weight off, while his other hand finds Nico’s knee, his leg, slides up the side of his waist, over his better arm, the side of his neck. Nico looks at him, eyes angled slightly down, hips canted slightly forward. He doesn’t say anything, just smiles wider, his eyes bright and burning and full of inexplicable victory and Percy cannot wait any longer. He anchors his hand in Nico’s hair, presses in, and fits their mouths together.

Nico’s breath hitches, and Percy feels his heart take off as he shifts forward, because he needs to feel Nico from legs to lips, alive and impossible and here. Percy presses his hand just below Nico’s ribs, and Nico makes a small high noise, maybe because it tickles, or maybe because he knows Percy can feel his heartbeat through his shirt and skin and bones. It makes Percy’s head spin, blood pounding in his ears, and he’s going to need to find a shoal to anchor on because there is no way he’s trying to steer while he drags Nico below, lays him out carefully on the bed, takes him apart with hands and mouth in the way Percy’s been trying not to think about since Nico’s half confession in the car. 

Percy waits, though, because the sun is out and the wind his fresh on his face and Nico is meeting his tongue in his mouth and there is no way to just pull away from that. At least, not until Percy presses his hips forward, and Nico breaks his mouth away to groan into Percy’s neck.

“We could just leave, you know,” Nico whispers against his skin, lips and teeth grating and Percy would be lying if he said he wasn’t sorely tempted.

“Sail away,” Nico continues, unlatching his hands from the sides and grabbing Percy’s hips, shifting them the way he wants, and Percy just follows as Nico says, “I’d go anywhere with you.” 

“You’ll stay with me, though?” Percy whispers into Nico’s skin, and he knows he’s said the right thing from the feel of Nico’s smile against his skin, because sometimes, sometimes he wants to run, he wants to hide from who and what he is, but he never wants to run from a fight, and this fight, Dare’s fight, it is not one he is willing to lose. He wants to believe Annabeth, to live up to what she said, that he’s not the type to back down from what’s hard, from what seems impossible. Being camp director, it seems impossible… until Nico looks at him, and for some reason Percy starts to think he can win. 

Nico pulls back, looks at Percy, eyes dark, and Percy holds his breath, even though he knows the answer like he’s never known anything before. They aren’t who they used to be, him or Nico, and for the first time, Percy feels like that’s a good thing. Like it has all been worth it.

“Yeah. Always,” Nico whispers, so quietly that Percy wouldn’t have been able to hear it over the waves but for the scant inch of distance between them. The way Nico says it, just to Percy, the only person who needs to know…

Maybe that look of victory isn’t so inexplicable after all.

“Then I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

Nico kisses him again, and Percy knows it’s true.

 

 

 

_fin_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked this story, feel free to follow me on Tumblr: theobjectlesson07. I post sporadically about other things that I've written, and reblog a lot of Captain America feelings. I'm also considering opening it up for prompts, so stop by!


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